Yeah, the existence of SteamOS, Steam Machines and eventually Proton were a hedge against Microsoft’s perceived shift into locked down distribution .

I think a lot of folk have a hard time reconciling that there may have been non-altruistic intentions behind something that is enjoyed today.

Similarly, Steam itself was a hedge against physical distribution to cut out the middleman. It wasn’t originally envisioned as a store for anyone but Valve.

But here we are today, and both have positive side effects that actually have outlived the original design.