Valve has been Linux friendly. It says the new steam frame “is a PC” and will run Steam OS but I feel like there’s an insinuation that, like the steam deck, you can install whatever you like. I am cautiously excited at the premise of really digging in and having a Linux box strapped to my face.
Another friend has already referred to it as the Linux Vision Pro.
Edit: watching Linus tech tips review, it mentions side loading Android APKs as well
Though, they say it’s ARM. So a lot smaller distro support, no(?) windows support, and only little or emulated game support. Though, I’d guess Valve is smart enough and has built an X86_64 -> Arm Emulator into Proton
Honestly, even if it takes a really long time for a different distro to support the hardware (ARM is a fucking nightmare) just having a Linux environment will give you so much more freedom than Android/HorizonOS on a Quest.
Almost every FOSS app has an ARM version, you could comfortably survive on Flatpaks and even Distrobox for apps not packaged in Flatpak until a different distro comes along.
Just about every big distribution has an ARM build. And most open source Linux apps build for ARM as well. In that regard Linux is much better set up than Windows.
The emulator FEX isn’t part of Proton but of course it is integrated with Steam similar to Proton.
Arch, the base for SteamOS, doesn’t have an official Arm build, for example.
If Apple hardware can get Asahi Linux, I bet more open devices can get even better distro support.
you’re posting in a Linux community.
They emulate x86 thanks to a project named FEX
It has a snapdragon SoC. Arm Windows laptops with Snapdragon SoCs have significantly worse Linux support than Macbooks with Asahi Linux (ignoring the newer M3 and M4 chips that aren’t supported by Asahi yet)
Honestly Valve doing an ARM PC is the first time I’ve been excited about the prospect of moving off x64 (previously it has only been dread and angst for me). If it is open and sets a good standard, I’ll start considering it. With how good Proton has been if FEX is close to that, it’ll be a very smooth transition.