He doesn't need to know it by name, or anything about the incident that gave it that name. It might be enlightening for him if he understood the underlying principle, though.

I've never seen a car with built-in data storage for music. Are you absolutely sure they exist? I've seen cars with SD card slots which the user can fill with media of their choice. I've seen cars with USB ports that the user can connect to storage devices of their choice. That's all I've seen though. I have seen a car with an SD card slot that came pre-filled with map data. That was all you could ever use that slot for though.

I'm genuinely curious. I don't own a car, but the ones I know don't have anything that would use much data storage. It seems they store fuel economy data, but that's about it. The entertainment systems don't have any data storage, but it can connect to your phone, MP3 player or whatever via USB.

I see what you did there. :)

If it were indisputable, this very topic would not exist...

Launching a phone OS, or tablet OS? MS are trying to diversify out of their tradtional core business, they just aren't any good at it. I can't say they aren't trying though.

You know, I could. I really got over the idea of wanting to a long time ago, though. I'd rather buy something that was made for the purpose by someone with better skills than mine.

I'm advocating for what I want. Apparently it's not what you want. You appear to want games to use a control scheme which is based on the keyboard and mouse. I've never found mouse control to be adequate for any gaming use, personally.

Then again, I don't play competitive online FPS.

Nah. I'm saying that I don't buy products that don't do what I want them to do. I choose not to buy them without any bitterness or anger. I simply look at a different product instead.

Thank you. They may even get me as a customer regardless of this wishlist, if they come up with something I still consider attractive.

If they don't, well... I doubt Gabe Newell will lose sleep over it.

I have used Big Picture mode actually. It's OK, and I don't mind if that's the default UI for the Steam Box. It doesn't do anything to ensure the games are controller compatible though. Big Picture will happily show you those ones which are not.

Aside from my preference for a controller, where exactly does one place the mouse when sitting in a comfy armchair?

Let me answer the one actual question you posed to me, in your response to my first point. You asked "why", and the answer is quite simple.

For some time now I've been somewhat in the market for a small form factor PC to use with my TV. I've not got around to choosing one yet, because it's not the highest of priorities. Ideally I'd like something that vaguely resembles a games console, but is in fact a full-fledged PC.

I want to play some games on it, but I also would like to use it for other things like media playback. I'd like to be able to install games from other sources than Steam too, so openness is an issue.

Why I asked about other distributions is simply because I have a distaste for Ubuntu Linux.

The Steam box seems as though it has a chance of fitting these specifications pretty well. If I "bought a PC" I'd likely get something that doesn't resemble just another set top box. That would be fine, but not ideal. Also, I'm (unlike a lot of PC users) quite happy to have someone else pick my hardware configuration for me, as long as they pick one that works well.

Actually I'm not used to doing so. I've not been a regular user of Linux for quite some time. You're still correct to say that I don't see it as a problem, while some people might. Those people might well be under a misapprehension about how hard the process actually is though.

Don't you think that 'threatens' is still too strong of a word? I'm not fool enough to imagine my custom to be important enough that I can threaten Steam by offering to withdraw it. In truth, I'm a Steam customer and will remain one, regardless. The "Steam Box" would potentially be a nice adjunct to the existing business relationship between is. As was suggested in another reply, I'd have to at least look at the Steam Box even if it differed from the idea I have in mind. I could find all kinds of uses for a nice set top box that runs Linux. Preferably not Ubuntu Linux, hence my first two points.

OK then. You're right. That was wrong of me. How about if I just want them to not explictly prevent it from running on any given distro? It is entirely unrealistic to expect them to support it on every distribution, but I'd want there to be no obstacles placed in the way of any given distro.