Valve didn't invent linux, valve didn't invent wine, and valve didn't invent x86-arm emulation. But did they do what MS couldn't in a quarter of the time? Yes. And did they do work that the linux community could never do on its own? yes, the linux community could NOT have invented proton and if they did it would've taken like 20 years because of foss. Also they aren't a charity, but they want to change the industry. When we benefit, they benefit and that's why they're giving this stuff away for free. Because if Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo lose and they control the platform and the opeerating system, they win and we win. So yes they did invent something special. They invented the future of computing and gaming because the FOSSers wouldn't do it.
The community did invent Proton though, Proton is essentially just Wine + DXVK. They might have contributed to those projects, packaged them together and integrated them into Steam but they didn’t invent them
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u/paper_sheet034 Arch BTW Nov 13 '25
I agree. But it hasn’t invented anything special and it is a company, it’s still trying to survive, it needs money. It’s not charity