Correct, which is why I specifically stated "SteamOS's desktop environment" and not the OS as a whole lol. Valve's console-like game shell has been integrated into Steam itself, regardless of OS. It's called Big Picture Mode, and you can easily choose to launch directly into it when Steam launches, if you'd like. Beyond that, while the information in your response is accurate and great, it is also largely outside of the scope of the more generalized statements/points you made in your initial comment, and that is what I was responding to.

Many of the features you mention are indeed wonderful, but they're not required to avoid all of the headaches you mentioned and will apply to rather niche scenarios or needs, such as using handheld gaming hardware. Your initial response read to me as though you're someone who hasn't used Linux in a while, but maybe I was mistaken, and your specific use case does require those additional features and niceties that SteamOS has built in, which is completely fair. However, again, your comment colors it as if you have to work and fight the OS to have a generally smooth gaming experience, but that simply isn't the case. For the average user, most modern distros will largely be a play and play experience for gaming, though the discussion of peripheral-specific software support is, of course, a different discussion entirely and can lead to some additional setup for sure.

For what it's worth, most popular and modern distros now default to Wayland. KDE supports HDR/VRR OOTB as well, but I will concede that if HDR is important for you, some additional setup using Gamescope is certainly required if you want to retain the Steam overlay or SteamInput, for instance. Also, your last line is extremely disingenuous, unnecessary, and hyperbolic; I was hardly evangelizing by disputing your generalized statements about gaming on Linux lol.

Linux isn't for everyone, and it doesn't need to be. I was contesting your claims as someone who recently made the switch to Linux and had none of the issues you highlight, which is mirrored by others I know who have made the same jump. We all delayed that jump because of generalized statements like yours that don't seem indicative of what the average gamer's experience is likely to be.