Desktop is a form factor not “software” and there are microwaves and refrigerators with “PC hardware” (in quotes, because it’s actually a pretty ill-defined term), but they still are not “Desktops” even is you install Fedora on your fridge.
The names are pretty clear and are about form factor. Desktop is something on top of a desk. Laptop is something on top of your lap. Hand-held is something you hold in your hand.
The steam deck is a hand-held game console - doesn’t matter what OS is it uses. It’s true that most stat tracking sites count it as “desktop” but not because it’s a desktop computer but because the user agent looks similar to desktop user agents.
If I install Android on a tower PC it doesn’t randomly become a smartphone even though all browser trackers would register it as a smartphone.
And Valve using a “typical desktop OS” on their handheld console doesn’t magically turn it into a desktop PC.
I could install a full fat kde on the entertainment system of a car - still wouldn’t call it a desktop PC.
So your definition for “desktop” is if it’s an x86 compatible architecture? Seems pretty random to me. Btw, there are x86 android device. IMO a desktop is something on the top of a desk to do typical “office work”. PCs, Macs, Laptops, etc. but calling a SteamDeck game console “Desktop” is pretty dishonest I think.
I’m not sure that’s really a good argument. I can connect an android smartphone to a monitor, keyboard and mouse and call it Desktop. It’s also just an arm64 or x64 based PC just handheld.
A Desktop PC IMHO is a device that is used for everyday “office” work and neither android smartphones nor steamdecks are that - but laptops for example are (IMHO)
But that’s not really a Desktop is it? If we’d count mobile device we’d also have to include Android and then the situation would look completely different.
y2k38 will be even funnier than y2k and y3k I guess.
Linux is way to fragmented and without a great dominating distro it will never. Waymand, Ubuntu, Mint, Gnome, KDE, WTF, Users don’t fucking care about that jargon. Most Window users don’t even know the name of the browser they are using or that “the internet app” is even called “browser”.
A few weeks ago I updated Ubuntu from 22 to 23 on my home media center. First tried the Updates App because why not just press a single fucking button like on windows or mac. No - no major updates there. Open a console, apt update and upgrade the hell out of everything, update the package sources with some shady regex command I copy pasted from some random forum, update upgrade again dist-upgrade WTF. After everything was done the layout of the info area (network, wifi, etc) was fucked up. Read some only shit about gnome shell extensions, themens, nothing made sense, force reinstalled the gome shell - worked again.
And somebody expects that “typical” users to do that don’t even know what Windows Version they are running - sure.
It’s a train coming your way.
Ok I also try it one last time 🤣
Go to Google images and search for “Desktop”. What you see is Desktop machines amd setups and how I and the vast majority of the world use the word “Desktop”.
Now search for “handheld game console”. It’s very likely that one of the first few results is literally a SteamDeck.
Now back to the stats. As I already said. SteamDeck will be tracked as a Desktop because stat tracking sites just use Browser User Agents and try to detect what the device actually is, but that’s very hard if not right out impossible because clients (including the SteamDeck) intentionally (for privacy and compatibility reasons) lie about what they are all the time!
If you take your mobile browser and enable “Desktop site” or “Desktop mode” it will lie(!) and make the server think it’s a Desktop - even though it is really not. A smartphone doesn’t magically become a Desktop PC. If I browse the web with my typical mobile browser - every site will track my activity as smartphone. If I switch to Desktop mode most sites will track me as a Linux Desktop Machine. But my device has not changed.
So you are right that the SteamDeck is tracked as a Desktop PC. But that’s because the Server has has either no better category for the device or can’t determine what the device really is because it lies about what it is.
https://webaim.org/blog/user-agent-string-history/
Stat tracking always had (and will have) two big issues (which can’t really be fixed).
Devices which lie about what they are (see link above) and the problem that they have to come up with some categories and there will always be some devices which fall between the categories (Think fridge, microwaves, sex toys, etc.).
If your SteamDeck is currently actually connected to a monitor a mouse and a keyboard than you are actually using it as a Desktop PC. But if you use it like most people - even though the SteamDeck lies about it - it’s not a Desktop, because the word “Desktop” really is about the form factor - it’s not just my definition. Give any of your friends a piece of paper and a pencil and ask them to draw a Desktop PC - I would actually be amazed if anybody in the world (even you! outside the context of this discussion) would draw anything even remotely resembling a Steam Deck.
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