[wlug] Why Linux-Based Steam Machines Won’t Have A “Suspend” Function

Current proprietary game consoles typically have a “sleep” mode, to allow faster startups than booting from a complete power-off. It turns out <http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/08/steam-machines-wont-have-a-suspend-function/> that Valve’s Steam machines are unable to offer such a facility, for quite a subtle technical reason <http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7855261&cid=50329207>: it’s because, when the Linux kernel wakes up from sleep, it forgets about all the USB devices it saw before, and rediscovers them all as though for the first time. This prevents applications (i.e. games) from preserving the state of devices like game controllers.