this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Does anybody know why it uninstalled his desktop? I have Steam on Linux, and it works fine and I didn't have to break my computer to get it.
It was a bug in that version of the distro IIRC, trying to install Steam would instead try to install the SteamOS desktop environment (or something along those lines). It has since been fixed to actually install the Steam client.
Obviously it was a bit silly he typed "Yes, do as I say" after seeing the message, but he was also literally following exactly what all the online guides said to do (other than the "Yes do as I say" part). Luckily it's fixed now but I do think it was a really good demonstration of what the video wanted to see: "What might the average non-techie gamer face using Linux?"
Apparently the issue was already fixed and he wouldn't have had the issue if he had done an
apt updateIt was extremely unfortunate timing. Pop_OS! had a bug for that week (or a few days?) where installing Steam would IIRC try to install the wrong version with the wrong dependencies. To support these alternate dependencies, it had to uninstall a bunch of the defaults, thus breaking the system. You can probably find a much better explanation by searching it up, Steam Pop_OS! i386 or whatever, but that's the jist. It was a crazy blip that Linus managed to be in the way of.
Not Linux's fault, not normal, but in my opinion not entirely Linus' fault either as who expects their desktop to be bricked by installing an everyday program?