Distrobox is a way to use pretty much any other Linux distribution in your terminal, along with full GUI apps and now it supports the Steam Deck with SteamOS too.
The update released a few days ago had some issues (#1, #2, #3), which I reported to the developer and they've since fixed up the installers and the documentation for Steam Deck. So with that in mind, I took it for a spin to see how it works and I've been thoroughly impressed with how easy it is.
It gives you a container system to install other distributions. So for the likes of SteamOS on the Steam Deck, without messing with the root filesystem, you can install something like Ubuntu and access everything it has available. Useful for software not available via Flathub (Discover) or elsewhere.
Here's a short video overview of the basic setup and running some apps from Ubuntu on Steam Deck:
Direct Link
Guide (official link):
First up, run these install scripts one after the other in a terminal app (like Konsole on Steam Deck):
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/extras/install-podman | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
Next up, we need to add the directories it uses into our .bashrc file, so we can run commands as normal in terminal. In your .bashrc file (found in your Home folder), open it in a text editor and add these to the bottom:
export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
export PATH=$HOME/.local/podman/bin:$PATH
Now you can install a Linux distribution with Distrobox, with Ubuntu as the example (in terminal again):
distrobox create -i ubuntu:20.04
Then once done, you can enter it:
distrobox enter ubuntu-20-04
This is where the fun begins. Now you can install or do whatever you like, inside Ubuntu. However, you also need to add this to your .bashrc file to run graphical applications / games on Steam Deck:
xhost +si:localuser:$USER
But a complete lx(c|d) system is all that I wanted to get my deck to be 100% useful for my work.
dziadulewicz Sep 12, 2022
QuoteFirst up, run these install scripts one after the other in terminal:
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/extras/install-podman | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
Next up, we need to add the directories it uses into our .bashrc file, so we can run commands as normal in terminal. In your .bashrc file (found in your Home folder), add these to the bottom:
export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
export PATH=$HOME/.local/podman/bin:$PATH
Only curious for absolute new comers who may not know what "terminal" is; is it in practice possible to do all this without a terminal? If so, how most effectively?
BlackBloodRum Sep 12, 2022
LSL?
Joking aside, this looks useful!
Quoting: dziadulewiczI'd say probably not, no.QuoteFirst up, run these install scripts one after the other in terminal:
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/extras/install-podman | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local
Next up, we need to add the directories it uses into our .bashrc file, so we can run commands as normal in terminal. In your .bashrc file (found in your Home folder), add these to the bottom:
export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
export PATH=$HOME/.local/podman/bin:$PATH
Only curious for absolute new comers who may not know what "terminal" is; is it in practice possible to do all this without a terminal? If so, how most effectively?
I hardly ever use the terminal. The way to work like that is to use a user-friendly distro (in my case Mint) and not to try to make it do weird things. Soon as you're trying to do weird stuff, you need the power of the terminal.
dziadulewicz Sep 12, 2022
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI hardly ever use the terminal. The way to work like that is to use a user-friendly distro (in my case Mint) and not to try to make it do weird things. Soon as you're trying to do weird stuff, you need the power of the terminal.
I have been lately seeing this same statement in many places, forums, etc. "I hardly ever use the terminal" or even "I refuse to use the terminal".
It is kinda telling who has gotten to Linux and from where, how far Linux has come in user friendliness, and what is the preference to use a computer (say, after a long days work). Click click and click
Quoting: dziadulewiczQuoting: Purple Library GuyI hardly ever use the terminal. The way to work like that is to use a user-friendly distro (in my case Mint) and not to try to make it do weird things. Soon as you're trying to do weird stuff, you need the power of the terminal.
I have been lately seeing this same statement in many places, forums, etc. "I hardly ever use the terminal" or even "I refuse to use the terminal".
It is kinda telling who has gotten to Linux and from where, how far Linux has come in user friendliness, and what is the preference to use a computer (say, after a long days work). Click click and click
Tbh, I prefer not to use the terminal where possible as I'm just lazy... But I often end up back in the terminal to do stuff anyway to work around bugs in gui software.
There are also Podman Desktop and Pods if you need finer management.
Quoting: dziadulewiczI have been lately seeing this same statement in many places, forums, etc. "I hardly ever use the terminal" or even "I refuse to use the terminal".Now that you mention it, I've been noticing that too, and it's nice to see that the options have gotten this good.
It is kinda telling who has gotten to Linux and from where, how far Linux has come in user friendliness, and what is the preference to use a computer (say, after a long days work). Click click and click
For me, it's "It doesn't come up often anymore." (I moved over to Linux when laptop WiFi support reached the point where you had to bring it up/down manually after boot or sleep with ifup/ifdown, because that was fine by me and I knew it'd get even better from there), though I still use it when it's the right tool for the job (I recently had to fix the permissions on some old backups, for example, and that's markedly faster using a terminal, and I like to compile RetroPie for desktop use, for which terminal usage is essential) or when I want to play around with stuff like fortune or BSD Games.
I'm sure that I can't be the only one in that group!
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