Ars Technica reaches a new low with their latest 'article' on SteamOS

[patrick3027]

Ars slams SteamOS over issues with a single machine and a 4K monitor: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/01/hey-valve-whats-the-point-of-steam-os/

That was the original title, it has been updated to

Quote

"Zotac’s new Steam OS box isn’t worth the headaches"

We're off to a good start, right guys?

Let's continue:

Quote

"I dug out an HDMI cable and plugged the Zotac directly into the monitor on my desk, an old Asus PQ321 4K model. I wasn't expecting to run anything in 4K, but I often pipe consoles through it at 1080p, and it works a treat."

The Asus PQ321 4K model ... hmmm, let's see what the internet has to say about this monitor:
 

Quote

 

"As far as your graphics card is concerned, the PQ321Q is actually two 1920x2160 panels seamlessly connected together. No, you won’t see a line down the middle. In fact, the only visual giveaway is that the two halves turn on in sequence.

[...]

So, returning to your choice of graphics card, you’ll need two HDMI outputs (or another digital connection adapted to HDMI) or one DisplayPort 1.2 output."

 

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asus-pq321q-4k-monitor-review,3698-4.html
 

Quote

 

"Another potential problem was the lack of ability to see the POST screen and BIOS during boot - most of the time our PQ321Q only showed something on the panel when we had entered Windows 8 and gotten to the login screen.  That can be pretty annoying and would require a user to have another monitor handy if any troubleshooting ever needed to happen with their rig.

In my experience it was also very hard to get anything on the screen if you don't at first boot into Windows with your NVIDIA graphics card with the monitor in SST mode rather than MST mode.  Once you are in Windows, you can switch the panel to MST mode and the system will recover, and you can reboot back into Windows each time after that without switching modes."

 

Source: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Displays/ASUS-PQ321Q-315-4K-Tiled-Monitor-Review/Setup-Process-AMD-and-NVIDIA-Dual-HDMI-Test

That's a hell of weird monitor to choose for a review, right?

So in summary, what we have here is a review of a weird monitor which doesn't work well with any hardware not running its unique drivers. I guess that justifies the "Valve needs to take a long, hard look at Steam OS." line perfectly.

I'm not saying SteamOS is great (Linus made that quite clear in his video on the topic), but this review is beyond stupid and Ars Technica should be ashamed of having such on article on their website.

[ShadowCaptain]

That is really dumb, he should have tried it with an alternative display to see if he gets the same woes

[ZetZet]

To be fair, SteamOS does suck.

[patrick3027]

5 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

That is really dumb, he should have tried it with an alternative display to see if he gets the same woes

Instead of trying a normal monitor which doesn't cost $3500, he started editing shell scripts and modifying config files in /etc/.

 

Makes perfect sense.

5 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

To be fair, SteamOS does suck.

But the 'reviewer' didn't test SteamOS, he just complained about a graphical glitch from his monitor and called it a day.

[Misanthrope]

Oh trust me: any Linux supporter or user is actually used to bullshit anecdotal arguments "It didn't work for me on this one config henceforth I shall declare Linux not ready for the desktop/gaming/mainstream/whatever"

Now there are real, tangible, terrible issues with driver support that still make Linux a piss fucking poor choice for gaming at this time. They just don't happen to be related at all with this crap and are about performance issues. 

[Ex14]

idk. I read this article a few days back. And it wasn't put up as a review. I just saw it as a consumer pov article.

ars readers brought up the point that they expected more from an Ars article. So I see their point.

what I don't see is what's the point of this. I mean lets admit that SteamOS or Linux for gaming has its fair share of quirks and difficulty from a consumer standpoint; that the article was not up to "Ars Standard"

But I kinda question why must it be brought up here too.

[patrick3027]

5 minutes ago, Ex14 said:

idk. I read this article a few days back. And it wasn't put up as a review. I just saw it as a consumer pov article.

ars readers brought up the point that they expected more from an Ars article. So I see their point.

what I don't see is what's the point of this. I mean lets admit that SteamOS or Linux for gaming has its fair share of quirks and difficulty from a consumer standpoint; that the article was not up to "Ars Standard"

But I kinda question why must it be brought up here too.

Because I saw the article being used as a 'proof' that SteamOS sucks on various websites.

 

If people want to criticise Steam OS, that's OK, but use a source which actually bothered to test the product instead of someone plugging it in in a weird monitor, had graphics issues and called it a day without actually playing one game on it.

 

If they wanted to give a consumer pov, choose a 1080p monitor/TV instead of a $3500 4K monitor from 3 years ago which needs two HDMI cables to display 4K content.

[Ex14]

Just now, patrick3027 said:

Because I saw the article being used as a 'proof' that SteamOS sucks on various websites.

 

If people want to criticise Steam OS, that's OK, but use a source which actually bothered to test the product instead of someone plugging it in in a weird monitor, had graphics issues and called it a day without actually playing one game on it.

 

If they wanted to give a consumer pov, choose a 1080p monitor/TV instead of a $3500 4K monitor from 3 years ago which needs two HDMI cables to display 4K content.

but it does "suck" lets not kid ourselves. Steam machines are meant to be console replacements. Ease of use is key. I mean the xbox and ps4 (peasants as the pcmr would call them) had no issues in displaying correctly to that monitor. But the steam machine just flat out refused to work? Fine it might be faulty hardware (the steam machine) but the article does go to length about the lack of configurability from steamos itself. Which is quite a glaring misstep imo

and as I mentioned to me its a consumer pov. I can tell you. Most consumer wouldn't go as far as he did (as little as he did or so the argument is)

idk I feel like its getting alot of flak more because

a) its Linux the tech enthuasist baby

b) its from Gaben

I think that's the part that ticked me off when I read through the comments and this thread.

in the whole article was that not one mention of the word review. Yet people were crying foul over it. Perhaps Ars should just call it an Op piece instead. Tho I'm sure it would have garned the same response as if it wasn't due to the reasons listed above.

[Misanthrope]

It's not a consumer point of view if it's on a fucking review website whenever they use the word "review" or not. The word you're looking for is editorial, and it's still a stupid fucking editorial based on a worst case scenario using a monitor no consumer would fucking use anyway.

[Guest Kloaked]

You know Linus basically shit on SteamOS too right?

[Ex14]

8 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

It's not a consumer point of view if it's on a fucking review website whenever they use the word "review" or not. The word you're looking for is editorial, and it's still a stupid fucking editorial based on a worst case scenario using a monitor no consumer would fucking use anyway.

I'm sorry, but Ars is not a review site. They do have reviews. But they also report on science, politics and the such, not just tech.

trust me consumers can have the wierdest shit. This monitor this person used is fairly not that unusual compared to some of the wierd monitors and TVs I've seen around my relatives/friends place

edit: Also I think your post shows what I meant. Even if it was clearly labeled as not a review. People would still rack on it because they have intense feelings for the matters I mentioned above.

the question now is what's this for now? To further beat down on the writer when there are heaps of comments on the original article pointing out his flaws? If you want to make a point across do so on the ars website. Its much more productive to do so there. Other than that it feels more like a, for lack of better term,circle jerk to "shame" the writer even more.

[Trik'Stari]

Either this reviewer is just a complete moron, or a Windows fanboy and or shill. When you do a "Review" you tend to want to use hardware that normal people are going to actually use. Like maybe, a standard 1920x1080 TV.

[patrick3027]

 

15 minutes ago, Kloaked said:

You know Linus basically shit on SteamOS too right?

Yes?

1 hour ago, patrick3027 said:

I'm not saying SteamOS is great (Linus made that quite clear in his video on the topic), but this review is beyond stupid and Ars Technica should be ashamed of having such on article on their website.

 

29 minutes ago, Ex14 said:

and as I mentioned to me its a consumer pov. I can tell you. Most consumer wouldn't go as far as he did (as little as he did or so the argument is)

[...]

in the whole article was that not one mention of the word review. Yet people were crying foul over it. Perhaps Ars should just call it an Op piece instead.

Okay, let's call it an editorial. If he wanted to say that SteamOS can't be played on an Asus PQ321, well that should be the title of the article. Instead, it says: "Valve needs to take a long, hard look at Steam OS." even though the author didn't test SteamOS.

Like I said above, the article doesn't make sense both as a review (nothing is being reviewed) and not from a consumer pov either because no one has a first-gen 4K monitor that costs $3500.

Okay, okay, it's very unlikely but let's imagine that someone out there uses a $3500 4K monitor that consists of a pair of 1920x2160 panels connected together and a $900 Steam machine.

I don't think that person would "go as far" as to modify system files but I imagine they would at least try a different monitor? Or is that too much to ask for for this theoretical console peasant with a $900 Steam machine and $3500 monitor?

[Master Disaster]

9 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

It's not a consumer point of view if it's on a fucking review website whenever they use the word "review" or not. The word you're looking for is editorial, and it's still a stupid fucking editorial based on a worst case scenario using a monitor no consumer would fucking use anyway.

 

9 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

It's not a consumer point of view if it's on a fucking review website whenever they use the word "review" or not. The word you're looking for is editorial, and it's still a stupid fucking editorial based on a worst case scenario using a monitor no consumer would fucking use anyway.

Whether you agree with the point or not is irrelevant, he raises a very good point that plagues a lot of users (including me).

I own an XB280HK which is very consumer and certainly not an obscure monitor yet Steam OS refuses to acknowledge the monitor is capable of anything other than 4K. Now that might sound like a pretty minor issue and in BPM or Desktop it is a minor issue however when playing games, not being able to change from 4K is crippling, especially on Linux where driver support and OpenGL are already affecting performance anyway.

The simple fact is, SteamOS offers zero support for changing resolution, it detects your native and that's the only choice you get. That is an incredibly stupid way of handling it, I guarantee you there's a huge number of people around the world where that would cause them a huge issue and render SteamOS unusable and pointless.

And what would getting another monitor prove exactly? These things are being sold as console replacements and your average Joe home users can't just go and grab another monitor or TV to play with. There will be people with obscure monitors and TVs, overpowered monitors and TVs which the console simply cannot drive at native resolution and TVs which require weird resolution and scaling settings to work.

Like it or not this is a genuine issue and a reason why people might not buy Steam Box.

[Ex14]

1 minute ago, patrick3027 said:

 

Yes?

 

Okay, let's call it an editorial. If he wanted to say that SteamOS can't be played on an Asus PQ321, well that should be the title of the article. Instead, it says: "Valve needs to take a long, hard look at Steam OS." even though the author didn't test SteamOS.

Like a said above, the article doesn't make sense both as a review (nothing is being reviewed) and not from a consumer pov either because no one has first-gen 4K monitor that costs $3500.

Okay, okay, it's very unlikely but let's imagine that someone out there uses a $3500 4K monitor that consists of a pair of 1920x2160 panels connected together and a $900 Steam machine.

I don't think that person would "go as far" as to modify system files but I imagine they would at least try a different monitor? Or is that too much to ask for for this theoretical console peasant with a $900 Steam machine and $3500 monitor?

well...he has ...a first gen 4k monitor that displays that consists of a pair of 1920x2160 panels connected together. If he has who's to say someone out there doesn't?

also what if that's the sole monitor he owns? I mean he does even connect his Consoles to it and they're not called peasants for no reason right?:p

there was a comment on ars stating that maybe this writer was too smart for his own good; instead going the extra steps without taking the simplest one as you guys have mentioned. It could have been a oversight on his part. But I don't think it discounts his experiences on a whole. Have you not been so caught up in something you failed to notice a minor detail or simple solution

in the end, if your goal is to just sp that you can have people shame him (even further) with you. Then I'm sorry and I just going to see my self out of this thread

[Misanthrope]

25 minutes ago, Ex14 said:

I'm sorry, but Ars is not a review site. They do have reviews.

Henceforth, an editorial. You're being very intellectually dishonest in trying to portray their piece as just a random consumer opinion. It's just not: whenever or not they do only reviews is irrelevant, they have reviews among news and other things. They're professionals and henceforth should be held up to a higher standard than just a "consumer review"

Whenever a professional expresses his personal opinion on a publication, it's called an editorial. The distinction is important precisely because it bypasses this entire argument: No it might not represent a completely objective view as a "review" but it's also not just some random opinion since they do have a position of inherent authority on the subject matter.

[Trik'Stari]

6 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

 

Whether you agree with the point or not is irrelevant, he raises a very good point that plagues a lot of users (including me).

I own an XB280HK which is very consumer and certainly not an obscure monitor yet Steam OS refuses to acknowledge the monitor is capable of anything other than 4K. Now that might sound like a pretty minor issue and in BPM or Desktop it is a minor issue however when playing games, not being able to change from 4K is crippling, especially on Linux where driver support and OpenGL are already affecting performance anyway.

The simple fact is, SteamOS offers zero support for changing resolution, it detects your native and that's the only choice you get. That is an incredibly stupid way of handling it, I guarantee you there's a huge number of people around the world where that would cause them a huge issue and render SteamOS unusable and pointless.

And what would getting another monitor prove exactly? These things are being sold as console replacements and your average Joe home users can't just go and grab another monitor or TV to play with. There will be people with obscure monitors and TVs, overpowered monitors and TVs which the console simply cannot drive at native resolution and TVs which require weird resolution and scaling settings to work.

Like it or not this is a genuine issue and a reason why people might not buy Steam Box.

The average home user isn't using a 4k monitor/tv. The average home user is likely using a 1080p monitor/tv.

OH. Also worth mentioning that you can't change the resolution on a console? Some times they don't even run at native 1080p.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Johners said:

I'm not going to say that gaming on Linux is perfect but I'm sick of people only looking at the negatives and not taking the time to actually discuss the positives of gaming on Linux. Yes, drivers are bad unless you are an owner of an nvidia card and no you can't run every game or some games as well as you can on Windows. However, you can get just shy of 25% of the Steam library on Linux now and if you have the right hardware configuration, you can have a fantastic gaming experience that will mostly match Windows when the games are available on both platforms.

As for the ArsTechnica article, this about just as much of a 'review' as Richard Stallman giving a 'review' of Windows 10. The fact that they have even published this surprises me.

Gaming on Linux is generally pretty decent in my experience.

Gaming on SteamOS is a different story, its dreadful.

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

The average home user isn't using a 4k monitor/tv. The average home user is likely using a 1080p monitor/tv.

OH. Also worth mentioning that you can't change the resolution on a console? Some times they don't even run at native 1080p.

You can change the output resolution on all consoles, this has been a standard feature since the Xbox and PS2 era.

And 4K TVs are now cheap enough that actually yes, the average home users might just have one on his wall. If he does Steam Box is useless to him for anything other than Indie games.

[Notional]

Generally hi is right though. Linux just isn't that great of a consumer OS. Both Windows and OSX runs circles around it when it comes to "just working" and usability.

However since Steam OS (SOS, lol) is a gaming OS it damn well needs to be able to play games. This is the biggest problem with SOS: It was made years to early. There simply isn't a useful graphics API on Linux. That might change when Vulkan launches, but even then it takes time for both games to support it and drivers to launch with support. The latter is the second issue: Drivers just aren't good enough for Linux.

Thinking either AMD or NVidia is going to open up their drivers is naive. Driver optimization is such a huge competitive factor, that neither of them would give the other insight into their solutions.

As things stands now, Linux (and by proxy SOS) simply aren't useful for gaming. For a pc console not to be able to game properly is a joke. We all know (or should) that SOS started out because Gaben got butthurt that Windows 8 had a store, that could also sell some games. So he went full retard and made an entire Linux based OS to circumvent Windows. Even though there was no useful graphics API or drivers present (and no games subsequently).

Vulkan is the hope for Linux. Until then, don't bother.

[Misanthrope]

3 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

You can change the output resolution on all consoles, this has been a standard feature since the Xbox and PS2 era.

And 4K TVs are now cheap enough that actually yes, the average home users might just have one on his wall. If he does Steam Box is useless to him for anything other than Indie games.

Vs a newer model that's equally cheap? Fat chance you're just grasping at straws here. 

[Misanthrope]

7 minutes ago, Notional said:

Generally hi is right though. Linux just isn't that great of a consumer OS. Both Windows and OSX runs circles around it when it comes to "just working" and usability.

However since Steam OS (SOS, lol) is a gaming OS it damn well needs to be able to play games. This is the biggest problem with SOS: It was made years to early. There simply isn't a useful graphics API on Linux. That might change when Vulkan launches, but even then it takes time for both games to support it and drivers to launch with support. The latter is the second issue: Drivers just aren't good enough for Linux.

Thinking either AMD or NVidia is going to open up their drivers is naive. Driver optimization is such a huge competitive factor, that neither of them would give the other insight into their solutions.

As things stands now, Linux (and by proxy SOS) simply aren't useful for gaming. For a pc console not to be able to game properly is a joke. We all know (or should) that SOS started out because Gaben got butthurt that Windows 8 had a store, that could also sell some games. So he went full retard and made an entire Linux based OS to circumvent Windows. Even though there was no useful graphics API or drivers present (and no games subsequently).

Vulkan is the hope for Linux. Until then, don't bother.

I don't completely disagree with your points, but to play devil's advocate a bit: Linux for gaming was basically this before Valve pushed it:

Fast forward and after, in fairness to your points failed attempt, Linux gaming now looks like this:

So you can't tell me it was for nothing. There's a monumental advancement here in the amount and quality of games available on Linux. Now I'm not saying that the progression will continue (momentum is important and Valve completely wasted the fucking timing and momentum) but we went from people playing shitty, antiquated and simple games struggling to get Quake III installed on Linux to playing Borderlands titles: night and fucking day dude. 

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Misanthrope said:

Vs a newer model that's equally cheap? Fat chance you're just grasping at straws here. 

How so. The average consumer is dumb, bigger number always equals better to them.

Now you can get sub £500 4K TVs (I've even seen sub £400 cheap Korean ones in my supermarket) means no average consumer is going to buy a 1080p TV when for an extra £100 they can get a 4K one.

Now we all know 4K TVs are pointless, there's no content available yet but the people in the supermarkets buying these TVs up don't know that's the case, and when they connect their Steam Box to their TV and it runs like shit they'll blame Steam Box.

[patrick3027]

22 minutes ago, Ex14 said:

-snip-

Can you at least acknowledge that he uses a very specific situation (SteamOS on a weird 4K monitor) to give an opinion about the whole OS? He says "Valve needs to take a long, hard look at Steam OS.". If he had said "SteamOS doesn't play nicely with 4K monitors" that would have be fine by me, but that's not what the article is about.

 

That's like someone booting up Windows 10 on a 5K iMac and finding out that Windows 10 doesn't support 5K and writing an article with the title "Microsoft needs to take a long, hard look at Windows 10."

[Misanthrope]

3 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

How so. The average consumer is dumb, bigger number always equals better to them.

Now you can get sub £500 4K TVs (I've even seen sub £400 cheap Korean ones in my supermarket) means no average consumer is going to buy a 1080p TV when for an extra £100 they can get a 4K one.

Now we all know 4K TVs are pointless, there's no content available yet but the people in the supermarkets buying these TVs up don't know that's the case, and when they connect their Steam Box to their TV and it runs like shit they'll blame Steam Box.

Right, but the average consumer will get whatever is in the store. A Best Buy is highly unlikely to stock an old 4K monitor. Only enthusiasts go hunting for old hardware really and that'd be hardly the same as a consumer just running into this compatibility issues.