So, I’ve been working on a Linux Mint setup for the last year or so, and I’ve had no end of issues with hardware incompatibilities that have just generally made my time with Linux as my main work computer an absolute nightmare.
Debian and Ubuntu have been my go-to laptop OSs for years and years now, so I don’t have an issue with Linux, I’m just looking to avoid expensive, unforeseeable hardware issues going forward. As such, Valve’s recent announcement of the Steam Machine has really pricked my ears up. Seemingly all the benefits of a supported, known-quantity system, and none of the drawbacks of getting involved in either the Microsoft or Apple closed ecosystems!
I’m sure Krita would have no trouble running on SteamOS (just an Arch fork, as far as I’m aware), but I was curious as to what people’s thoughts might be on the Steam Machine’s technical specs when it comes to providing a smooth Krita experience? The proposed specs are definitely lower than what I’m currently working with (which doesn’t exactly matter when the higher-end system doesn’t work properly in the first place!) but the Steam Machine is designed to specialise in running video games at a console-or-better level, so I’m hopeful that will somewhat translate over to graphics tools like Krita.
Here’s a link to the specs in full. I’m aware that Krita makes more use of the CPU than the graphics card, so hearing that the Steam Machine’s specs are more heavily weighted in the CPU direction seems like a good sign.
Anyway, I’d love to hear if anyone has any thoughts, and if anyone else has been considering the Steam Machine as a replacement for their own main computer outside of gaming too!
People run Krita on their 10 year old android tablets and get it work, I’m sure the GabeCube will do just fine. It always depends on how big your projects are.
What games need and what Krita needs are often very different. However there is usually a good overlap. Krita needs powerful single core/thread performance and a lot of fast RAM. Games usually often need the latter too.
What’s probably more difficult is getting drawing specific peripherals to work for graphics tablets that aren’t as widespread as Wacom and need additional drivers. Since SteamOS will probably be an immutable OS installing additional drivers or kernel modules could be difficult.
The few outputs could also be problematic if you maybe want to attach a screen tablet and a normal monitor at high resolution at the same time. Although you could probably connect one to DP and one to HDMI or something.
I hadn’t actually considered that. My Huion tablet works with out-of-the-box drivers built into Mint/Ubuntu, so I would be surprised if Arch didn’t have a similar set of packages. Still, good thing to be aware of. As for the “immutable OS” thing, Valve have made a point of referring to it as an “open ecosystem” that they encourage people to do what they want with, so, I might well end up proven wrong, but I’d certainly be surprised if it turned out to be as locked-down as you’re expecting it to be. Not sure how different the Machine version of the OS is actually going to be from what’s currently running on the Steam Deck, if at all.
Ah, not a problem that affects me personally, but I can see how that might be a significant turn-off for a lot of artists! I just kind of got so used to non-screen tablets over the last decade that the thought of upgrading to a screen tablet has never really seemed worth the price or hassle!
Immutable does not mean you can’t install stuff on it, or develop software for it. It only means you are not able to alter the core system of the OS. There are different reasons for why one might want this, one is security another is to ensure a uniform minimum standard. There are already many popular immutable distros out there and in use, SteamOS on the Steam Deck being one of them. I have a Steam Deck and I can only install Flatpaks, Snaps and Appimages. Which makes running some software difficult that either has no such package or requires more permissions than these can offer. I could probably break it open and make it mutable, but I don’t want to mess with it too much since I already had to factory reset it once and its not worth doing it for me. Since I do a lot more with my Linux computer than just gaming and drawing (like coding), this would not cut it for me personally, but doesn’t mean that’s not enough for your use.