14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has released a new update for the Linux-based SteamOS operating system and they have added a number of packages that were requested by the community, among other changes and improvements.
The SteamOS developers have finally released a new Beta version of the distro, although nothing too sensational has been implemented. There is already a powerful community of users that have this distro lined up for gaming, and this community is always proposing all kinds of changes. Most of them are not implemented, but from time to time some packages are deemed useful by the devs.
In fact, the SteamOS users have had a "package wishlist" for quite a while and Valve has been adding them for quite some time. They are also keeping track of the things that are added and that are still on the waiting list. Some of the packages might allow browsers to use Java, and there is even one entry for systemd. This latest one won't be a problem since SteamOS is based on Debian.
SteamOS Beta users should get the new update
Valve has two different branches of SteamOS and it's working constantly to improve both of them. One is considered stable and the other is a Beta (the current iteration). Usually, new updates land first in the Beta branch and only after some testing has been done, it eventually arrives in the stable branch as well.
"The only changes in this update are new packages added to the repository and security fixes from upstream," reads the changelog. The packages that were just added are: cifs-utils, gksu, libgksu, libmng, nas, qtwebkit, screen, and tig.
Also, a few of the existing packages have been updated from upstream: bind9, dbus, jasper, libevent, mime-support, nss, ntp, and unzip. All of these bring various security fixes that are really necessary.
As usual, you can download SteamOS from Softpedia and give it a try. There is no Live CD and you will need to install it.
