system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
&gt;What Valve did is fantastic but if they didn't plan on releasing a steam deck this would not have happened. 

Valve has been pushing for Linux since long before the Steam Deck, SteamOS is like a decade old now. It was originally used in their previous console, the Steam Machine. They went in that direction in the first place because Gaben is a Linux fan himself. So it's the other way around, the Deck likely wouldn't have happened if Valve wasn't interested in promoting Linux.
gpt
I wouldn't exactly call their previous attempts with SteamOS "pushing" Linux. It was basically a Linux distro that booted into Steam big picture mode. When they started on proton however, they changed the game for Linux gaming (pun intended). Still, I don't for a second believe that this was not a business decision based on the results of earlier Steam machines. Valve knew that people wouldn't buy it if half of their libraries didn't work.

I didn't know GabeN was a big Linux fan tbh, but I guess that's not that strange since all their own titles have had native Linux clients for the longest time.

I know GabeN is seen as the PC gaming god here and people often think of Valve as the good guys but we have to remind ourselves, Valve is still a company. Their goal is to make money, that 30% cut they ask on their store should remind us of that. They did a great thing, but let's not kid ourselves that this was out of the goodness of their hearts. Valve/GabeN has expressed their thoughts on the Windows and Microsoft store monopoly a few years back, they don't want to lock themselves in on a platform they have no control over. Again, a logical business decision.