Lol, WTF are you talking about? Every bit of this is ignorant. Let me correct you so you’re not running around embarrassing yourself:
SteamOS was based on Debian. Never had anything to do with Ubuntu. The reason they switched was because it was easier to use an Arch build system to make their own base OS image immutable, but still build native modules to include as well as BSP drivers. Simple.
Yes, sorry I got SteamOS and Steam for Linux conflated. While SteamOS has moved from Debian, the Steam for Linux github still lists “Latest Ubuntu or Ubuntu LTS with a 64-bit (x86_64, AMD64) Linux kernel”. As for the move for SteamOS to Arch, taken from Alberto Garcia who made the pitch and was on the team doing the work described it as such.
SteamOS 3 "is a customization layer on top of Arch Linux; almost all of the packages come directly from Arch, without being changed or even rebuilt. The Arch Linux philosophy is for packages to be as close to upstream as possible; downstream patches are not applied “unless it is really necessary”. SteamOS has adopted the same philosophy; when there is a problem with a package, it is fixed upstream whenever possible.
And you are correct in that they then use the Arch image to make an immutable A/B partitioning scheme for SteamOS. But you must also agree that Arch gets them using upstream packages instead of stale outdated ones if left on Debian, and is the reasoning behind the change.
Ubuntu is the most widely used base of Linux on the planet, desktop and cloud included.
It may well be, but I think it is a disservice to new people for anyone to push them towards a distro that will be running outdated software from day 1 of their install (especially since these people are “gamers”). Oh but you just need to add a PPA! Super, add in the many someone wanting to run any semblance of an updated system might want and guess what, update time and Ubuntu just fell over. OK, maybe they somehow manage to preemptively disable all the PPA repos they have added before upgrading, yay!, I would say it’s still a 50/50 on if Ubuntu shits the bed on upgrade anyway. (I ran Ubuntu for many years before I learned my lesson)
Valve writes their own modules for their drivers. This is the dumbest thing you’ve asserted so far in that Ubuntu somehow is responsible for drivers. Because you seem to know nothing about Linux in general, I’ll just let you know the kernel handles the detection and loading of modules and drivers. Any distro on 6.8 has the same ability to detect and load drivers for any other distro running 6.8. I have no idea why you thought this had something to do with packaging in distros lolz.
When did I assert anything you are alleging?? And I understand how loading modules works, thanks. I also know that when update your system base more then every 6+ months, that sometimes system libraries change, and sometimes modules need to be recompiled against them. Also using kernel 6.8 is a great example of how running an outdated distro IMHO would put a “gamer” at a disadvantage, when 6.10 was just released. And with these kernel updates come new modules for newer hardware, as well as fixes for filesystems, etc. (all things that would be helpful if you want to game on your PC and not just “work”)
Do you know what a backport is? It seems you do not.
What did I mention that was incorrect about backports? They happen all the time for distros that need to maintain an LTS for years, allowing them to fix bugs without needing to move everything forward. Do I have it correct now?
Anyway, your entire understanding of how everything works is wrong. You should read more.
I appreciate your talking down to me, you are truly the Linux ambassador we have been awaiting! All hail @just_another_person! All hail @just_another_person! May his reign be long and prosperous! Everyone else RTFM!