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this post was submitted on 15 May 2026
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Linux Gaming
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No, it doesn't make sense. What makes sense is a standalone controller.
Oh and your BIOS example is not the analogy you think it is.
It's not an analogy, it's an actual use case for the controller. I don't remember if it was LTT or GN that had to do some BIOS change when reviewing the controller and showed how it even works there. You might not care about it, but to me being able to select a grub entry with a controller means I never again need to struggle with my PC that's behind the TV to plug a keyboard if something breaks.
Edit: Forgot to mention launchers and other similar stuff that expect mouses to interact.
Dude, you can't seriously be simping for Valve so hard that writ entire paragraphs defending a hardware released without a standalone driver.
I mean, this is a thing that exists. It's not like peopler are asking for something that can't be done.
You're right about the analogy part, I totally misread your previous comment xD. However, why on earth would you want to control bios settings with a controller? If you're thinking of the Steam Machine, then valve could add "controller support" to the BIOS. It doesn't make sense to do it the other way around and fuck over literally the vast majority of users that don't have a steam machine.
Again, asking for a driver that doesn't require you download a game client and create an account is perfectly reasonable. Why do I need to have Steam running in the background if I'm running an epic or gog game?
I have a desktop PC plugged into my TV, and have had for the past decade or so. The OG steam controller has saved me multiple times from having to reach behind to plug a keyboard and mouse. I understand you don't care for this use case, but the appeal of this controller is in steam Input, if you plan on using it just like a regular controller then you're better off buying an 8BitDo or similar for half the price.
There were open source alternatives for the OG controller, one that I used for a while is https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller and I'm sure similar ones will pop for the new one. Unlike most proprietary controllers each button and input sends a distinct input so a driver for it is trivial to write (most controllers with back paddles for example require some software to map them to other controller input and they send the same input from the button and the paddle making them impossible to work without the official software).
Could Valve have released an open source version of this? Yes, but they're selling the controller in their platform to be used in their platform so it's a weird ask, you already have to have a steam account to buy one, and SteamInput is a big part of why I use Steam even for non-steam games. And realistically without SteamInput this controller is not that appealing.