Running the Steam Deck’s OS in a virtual machine using QEMU

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer that runs a Linux-based operating system called SteamOS. The machine comes with SteamOS 3 (code name “holo”), which is in turn based on Arch Linux. Although there is no SteamOS 3 installer for a generic PC (yet), it is very easy to install on a virtual machine using QEMU. This post explains how to do it. The goal of this VM is not to play games (you can already install Steam on your computer after all) but to use SteamOS in desktop mode. The Gamescope mode (the console-like interface you normally see when you use the machine) requires additional development to make it work with QEMU and will not work with these instructions. A SteamOS VM can be useful for debugging, development, and generally playing and tinkering with the OS without risking breaking the Steam Deck. Running the SteamOS desktop in a virtual machine only requires QEMU and the OVMF UEFI firmware and should work in any relatively recent distribution.

today's leftovers

• Dead Rising 1 and 2 Make it as Steam Deck Verified Titles

  But not just Dead Rising! Valve has progressed in testing more games and we are at more than 3700 games validated (3719 games to be precise at the time of publication) on the Steam Deck – in two categories...

• Linux is more popular than ever, thanks to Valve’s Steam Deck | PCGamesN

  The Steam Deck is undeniably a popular handheld gaming PC, and its street cred is helping Linux grab a larger slice of the market pie. While Windows 10 still reigns supreme within the operating system scene, more Steam users than ever are playing games on versions of the Unix-like OS.

• Behind open DORS – Conference organizers share their thoughts on Canonical, Ubuntu, snaps, and open-source | Ubuntu

  A Linux conference almost as old as Linux itself. In mid-May, DORS/CLUC hosted its 29th event at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb, Croatia. With a long history of participation and contribution to open source communities, Canonical was one of the sponsors at the conference, with a busy schedule that included a presentation on snaps, an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, and several interviews. Typically, at conference events, the conference presenters (and attendees) are the ones who get interviewed. This time, we decided to add a spin. I interviewed the event’s organizers. For a good hour and half, I spoke to Svebor Prstacic, the president of HrOpen and Vedran Lebo, the co-chair of the conference and president of HULK (an aptly acronymized organization that translates to The Croatian Linux Users Association). We discussed the origins of DORS, the value and importance of Linux and open source, the relation with Canonical, and the future.

• KDE Dev-Vlog 4: Too Much Spectacle! – Felix Ernst

  Sometimes it is the smallest thing that makes the biggest difference for our users. This video shows the cause and the thoughts behind such a small change on a small application.

• Brenda is classic automata nightmare fuel | Arduino Blog

  Art is a strange thing. Sometimes its purpose is purely aesthetic. Sometimes it makes a statement. And sometimes it exists to disturb. Kinetic art is no different and some robots fall into this category. Graham Asker’s art elicits pondering on the relationship between humans and robots, as well as the relationships between different robots. But as Brenda, a classical-style automaton, demonstrates, Asker’s art can also induce nightmares. Brenda and her companion Brian are strange, bodiless robots designed to mimic the aesthetics of automatons from myth and history. Each robot is a construction of beautiful brass, mechanical joints, linkages, and cables. Servos hidden inside the bases of the robots actuate the various joints, giving Brenda and Brian the ability to emote. Most of their “facial” movement is in their eyes. Lifelike eyeballs look around from within heavy eyelids, while pivoting eyebrows help to convey expressions.

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software/Events

• SearXNG: The Open Source Metasearch Engine that puts your Privacy First

  SearXNG is a free internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases. Users are neither tracked nor profiled. You can easily find dozens of secure and private instances for your search that are hosted securely for free on many servers. Furthermore, some of these servers are hosted on Tor, which grants more security and privacy.

• The Apache Software Foundation Announces ApacheCon 2022 Schedule : The Apache Software Foundation Blog

  – The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the all-volunteer developers, stewards, and incubators of more than 350 open source projects and initiatives, announced today the initial schedule for ApacheCon North America 2022. ApacheCon is the annual convention of the Apache Software Foundation, showcasing content from many of the project communities at the ASF. ApacheCon will be held at the Canal Street Sheraton in New Orleans, LA, from October 3-6, 2022. ApacheCon this year will feature four days of sessions, with seven tracks each day. Tracks will focus on Search, Big Data, Internet of Things, Community, Geospatial, Cassandra, Financial Tech, and many other topics. For the full schedule, visit the ApacheCon North America 2022 website. Each evening will also feature Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions, where communities will have an opportunity for freeform discussion and planning around our various projects.

• Free Software Directory on IRC: Friday, July 8, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC) — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software

  Join the FSF and friends Friday, July 8, from 12:00 to 15:00 EDT (16:00 to 19:00 UTC) to help improve the Free Software Directory.

• MedPix: Free Open-Access to Thousands of Medical images, Real Cases and Medical Topics

  MedPix® is a free open-access online database of medical images, teaching cases, and clinical topics, integrating images and textual metadata including over 12,000 patient case scenarios, 9,000 topics, and nearly 59,000 images.

• TDF/LibreOffice QA/Dev Report: June 2022

  LibreOffice 7.3.4 was released on June 9