xavier666

From the article

Microsoft has officially announced its intent to move security measures out of the kernel, following the Crowdstrike disaster a few short months ago. The removal of kernel access for security solutions would likely revolutionise running Windows games on the Steam Deck and other Linux systems.

I have a question(s) regarding the various types of game controllers.

I need a wireless controller which supports PC (Steam Linux mainly and maybe Windows someday). While searching online, I see various types

1. xbox/ps5/switch controllers : These are for their respective consoles
2. Mobile/PC controllers : These usually connect via wire/bluetooth/2.4 GHz

Source: https://www.gamesir.hk

However, I see in the product specifications page of the console controllers that they also support PC. And the PC controllers sometimes support some of the consoles. The only real difference between controllers, from a technology perspective, is that is some of them support bluetooth/2.4 GHz.

So I have two questions:

1. If they are already cross-compatible, why even bother having different types?
2. How should I decide which type of controller I should buy? It should support PC, console-support is not essential.

Note: I am a novice in game controllers but aware of different network stacks.

Edit: Thanks for the amazing response! These are my key takeaways from all the comments

1. Hall-effect sensors are a must
2. Default console controllers usually have stick drift
3. If you need trackpad, take PS5
4. 8bitdo is a reliable brand, as per multiple responses
5. Most controllers have good support on Linux. But haptic feedback can be a hit/miss as it can be platform/game dependent
6. There are various connectivity wireless standards. Dongles are the most reliable but you lose a USB port.
7. Keep track of handsize/comfort and button layout
8. PS controllers have excellent support on Linux/Steam

I have been a PC gamer for the majority of my life. But before that, i was a console player on the NES. But NES mainly had platformers, and no 3d games. So i am not used to movement and camera controls simultaneously at all.

I have purchased a Steam Deck OLED and it's phenomenal at playing platformers and twin stick top down games. However, i am absolutely sucking at FPS games on it. Can't make shots on the controller which are like muscle memory on my PC. I'm also having a slightly hard time on 3rd person over the shoulder games (not as bad as FPS though). It's probably because of my age (30+) I guess.

My question is that is there a way to improve other than 'git gud'? Example, is there an easy FPS game where I don't have to move or shoot too fast? Or a sample controller exercise game, like we have AimLabs for mouse movement.

Thanks.

I was thinking about the anti-cheat scenario and this popped on my mine. Consider the following scenario.

Valve comes out with an alternate OS for the Steam Deck called "Steam OS Secure" which supports anti-cheats. Special proprietary blobs were added to the OS, in collaboration with the game devs, which allow it to monitor metrics at the kernel level. These anti-cheats will only be able to run on an unmodified Steam Deck which gets disabled the moment you "modify" your Deck.

(I'm unsure what "modify" means here. Maybe if the user creates a root password or if a new layer has been added on top of SteamOS)

This will come pre-installed with the Deck (Steam Deck 3 maybe), but a seperate OS without the proprietary blobs is also available and can be downloaded/installed right from the Deck itself. This can be switched anytime but it's a lengthy procedure. Obviously, the one without the anti-cheat performs better.

What do you think about this? Would you approve this? Will your perception towards Valve change? Will it be better for gaming over all?

Edit: I can understand the dislikes. No one wants RING-0 anti-cheat on Linux. But I just want to have a discussion on this. I don't see game devs making exceptions their game only on Linux in the near future.

https://files.catbox.moe/eb4wvp.png

I have never seen this anywhere. This could be as rare as 5-6 tall cactus.

Edit - Check comments for seed/coords

I am using a Dell Latitude 3420 (Ubuntu 22.04.3) and it uses a slightly older OEM kernel 5.14.0-1048-oem. The generic kernels keep getting upgraded but are never used. The current generic that I have is 6.2.0-26-generic and 5.15.0-79-generic.

So I have 2 questions

1. Should I leave the kernel as it is? Some threads online say it's better to leave it as it is as an OEM kernel is better for Ubuntu-certified laptops
2. If I should change the kernel, what would be the best way? I don't want to hard-code the kernel version.
   • If I have issues in the latest generic kernel, I should be able to roll-back to the OEM kernel.

Related links

1. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1395080/which-kernel-should-i-use-for-my-hardware-oem-or-generic
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/XPS/comments/rif7wo/ubuntu_after_installation_oem_kernel_instead_of/
3. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1387979/removing-a-oem-installed-kernel