[mcv]

Well, yes. But what I mean is that it would have been nice if hobbyists were able to accomplish this without needing the help from a commercial entity.

I'm a bit at a loss why some people here prefer commercialised open source over community-driven open source. I mean, I'll take it, and Valve did an amazing job, but there have been plenty of attempts to make this work before Valve stepped in, and it just didn't work that well back then, and it would have been nice if we didn't have to rely on Valve for this.

[robertlagrant]

This sounds the same as you wanting other people to do things for free. I don't know about nice, but I certainly wouldn't lament people being paid to do something.

[mcv]

You're missing my point. The issue isn't money, it's dependency.

Using Steam and the whole Valve-supported infrastructure still doesn't cost me anything. But what if Valve decides the Steam Deck isn't commercially viable for them?

[robertlagrant]

Then we'll be a lot further ahead than if Valve had never paid for this work to be done. I don't know what better alternative you're after. Isn't this open source work? There's no ongoing dependency. If Valve shut up shop tomorrow we're in a better state than if they'd never funded development, aren't we?

[mcv]

Absolutely. That's why I'm glad Valve did this, and also why I wish it wasn't necessary.

[robertlagrant]

Which sentence is why you wish it weren't necessary?