It really is true! Proton has fundamentally shifted how Linux can be used, and now with the Deck it's reaching people it never would have reached before. I'm sure Valve did it for their own benefit, but some of it was born out of a need for survival too. This all started because Valve saw the trend of Windows moving towards only having the Windows store be the source for software, and Valve started planning. It was an extremely smart move on their part, cause now Valve has positioned themselves to re-unlock a category of gaming hardware that only had Nintendo competing in it viably up until now.

And yes, the "purists" are the same ones who complain about Wayland, Systemd, etc. The things that have brought Linux to where it is now, and why it's used by as many as it is. They should just be ignored, tbh.