The two real revelations here are:

>Can I download the OS to try it out?

>>You will be able to download it (including the source code,[...]) but not yet.

and

>Am I going to be using a mouse and a keyboard in the living-room?

>>If you want. [...] Stay tuned, though - we have some more to say very soon on the topic of input.

yep, the fact that they're making the source code available is a big deal. A lot of people were worried that SteamOS would just be another closed platform, and this puts that fear to rest pretty definitively.

They've positioned themselves so that none of their IP even matters as far as their core business goes. What does matter is that they own the marketplace for games. Giving the source code away only allows people to improve the platform, which only strengthens their hold on the market place.

Not if somebody modifying it to use with his own marketplace, which is unlikely but possible with the open source software.

> Not if somebody modifying it to use with his own marketplace, which is unlikely but possible with the open source software.

People have been doing that on PCs for ages. So far Valve seems to be doing well with "well, then, we'll just outcompete" as a solution to that issue.

I'm not sure if they're open sourcing the actual code for steam... it sounded like just the OS. None the less, code doesn't make market places. It takes effort, good faith, proper marketing etc.