this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
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I don't understand the logic. Why would Proton make Linux dependent on Windows binaries? It does not make Linux dependent, but enables to use them. I don't see any reason why Valve should demand devs to build Linux builds (plus Valve should not demand it, it should be a decision of the developers, Valve should not have that much power in my opinion).
The same would happen with changes in Linux. And arguably it is worse on Linux. Windows binaries have a higher chance of working through WINE or Proton, than Linux binaries in the future. Plus developers only need one binary build, instead developing for Linux and Windows. Also if Microsoft changes their API, then only games affected using the new API would be affected. And changes and additions happen all the time and the Proton / WINE devs are working all the time too.
And "Windows" games run better in Linux/Proton. It's more like a re-implementation of a feature set, right? Like, I could see devs targeting Proton as the primary target sometime in the future. That's kinda how some multiplatform systems work already, going all the way back (at least) to "Java apps" in the 90s. (I can't think of any older examples off the dome, but I only got into coding in a big way in the 00s, so I'm not confident.)
This happened before Proton existed (just base wine), with some commercial software software and a few games using winebuild or paying Crossover (main developers of wine) for help packaging their software.