At uni I logged on a thin terminal that would then connect to a computer with hundreds of users.

You think of your computer as a desktop but in a reality it can be a lot more than that. Hundreds of users could simultaneously use it without bothering you (assuming resources are sufficient).

Obviously that also means you shouldn’t be able to see or edit files from other users

You, like most of us to be clear, are just using it in a very very limited way.

It costs pragmatically nothing to keep this model working and it seriously limit usage to remove that. Now if you do want, you can autologin and skip all this but at your own risk.

TL;DR: a desktop is just a server with a screen, mouse and keyboard, nothing magical about it. If a server can handle hundreds of users, so can your desktop even if that’s not how you use it.

There is a mix of very precise issues with very detailed examples but also a thread of not being “comfortable” which makes it challenging for me to make practical suggestions.

If that’s OK I’d suggest to start with the top 5 problems you have then I, and hopefully others, can give potential paths forward.

One generic advice though the learning curve might feel threateningly high but I’d argue it’s if you consider this a short term adventure. If you think about the next year or so, discovering the intricacies of a distribution or shortcuts for a desktop environment look like a bad investment of your time. If now you consider this, especially as you mentioned managing servers for years, relying on WSL, etc a long term investment. If you imagine than in 10 years, heck even 50 years, console, servers, VR headsets, desktop, phones, tablets… all run Linux (which to be clear basically is the case now, even before the Valve recent announcement) then it’s a totally different dynamic. I don’t mean “behind the scene” kind of things, I mean today you can use adb shell on your standalone VR HMD, on your video projector, on your phone, etc. You can also have the console on your Mac laptop. It doesn’t make learning easier, it’s just a lot more motivating IMHO.

Also on that topic, my “trick” is to write down notes. It can be actual notes or just my ~/.bashrc or ~/bin in a more pragmatic day to day solutions. They do add up, day after day, years after years. Each challenge once overcome can be composable and a new opportunity to do more.

• sure, it’s no a hardware problem so they might support hand tracking but for now at least officially they don’t and didn’t announce they would. There are even https://github.com/Lynx-MR/LynxOrbSlam3 that could be used. For now though it’s not supported. I remember the BT control of Base Station for the LightHouse systems NOT being supported on Linux for years in fact check https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/207 it’s a 6 years old issue. Being feasible does not mean it will be done.
• yep
• CPU/GPU aren’t better than other standalones HMDs already out
• there is no WebXR support on Linux, hasn’t existed for years. Firefox never supported it, neither does Chromium. It’s been confirmed by the Google developer implementing WebXR https://bsky.app/profile/toji.dev/post/3m5hm2aysg22d
• that Valve isn’t making a new VR like Alyx

What kind of use case for Super over meta do think I’m missing? Like I said if I do meta-e I get in KDE Plasma the file explorer, Dolphin, isn’t it also the behavior you get?

sold my OG Ergodox

I basically forced myself to use it and it was a good transition from the Microsoft Sculpt but now that I’m a 3x6 I don’t want to go back ;)

Transition is always tricky and I find that NOT having a project to rush on for few weeks at least is what I need.

Sadly my professional bet (FWIW I did discuss with people at Valve about the immersive browser back in 2016… back when WebXR was still WebVR) is that they at “best” will rely on a Steam desktop, not go more upstream.

one of the “winkeyless” enthusiast mechanical keyboards…

That’s me, in fact you can see my keymap at https://github.com/Utopiah/zmk-config-zen-2/blob/main/config/corneish_zen.keymap#L27 for my Corne-ish Zen 3x6

I’m not. To me Steam is already successful with VR and on Linux. I have an Index since day 1. One of my favorite game, VR or not, is Half-life: Alyx. I also anecdotally already have a Steam Deck since day 1.

No rather to me, as I said before it’s

the big questions for VR on Linux more broadly is what changes upstream on KDE in terms of immersive UX? Is KDE Plasma becoming a VR graphical shell? Does it have 3D widgets? Does it impact freedesktop in any way?

namely more precisely how will Valve work impact VR on Linux upstream of Steam itself.

Yes precisely that part.

My bad then, as I mentioned before unfortunately I have no such keyboard available anymore.

I’m not sure if we’re having the same conversation, they addressed 5 items but now my actually questions on the more structural aspect.

Agreed but I’m not really talking about Steam here.

Shocking to read in a Linux thread. The entire point of free software and open source is that the need of 1, not even a market but a need, without any budget, might still be relevant and important.

Linux itself is the result of that.

I genuinely don’t get your point. Popularity is not a criteria that is relevant for my needs. Your preferences are not relevant to my needs. We are different people and that’s OK.

That’s about popularity though. Of course it will change development, and hopefully for the better because consumers and developers alike will be able to trust that the platform will keep on being usable. Still, it’s not about being genuinely new technically speaking. Same for e.g. https://simulavr.com/ which now looks like… well let’s just said egoistically speaking I did track the project for years, glad I didn’t order a DevKit, sadly.

• criteria please, hand tracking does work even though it might not be something you like for your own usages
• there are even actual games like Laser Dance developed specifically for it
• it’s 2026 hardware?
• https://immersive-web.github.io/ feel free to ask question
• Valve did announce they are not developing VR content for it e.g. https://www.uploadvr.com/valve-isnt-currently-working-on-a-new-vr-game/

I never tried with it specifically (done with with numerous other HMDs though) but it’s just streaming and they have a Alvr repo https://github.com/Lynx-MR/ALXR so I imagine so yes.

I don’t have a physical keyboard with a Windows key to verify (gave that to a friend who need an ergonomic keyboard few weeks ago) but AFAICT xev or KDE Plasma again return meta when pressed on that key.

Also ZMK https://zmk.dev/docs/keymaps/list-of-keycodes list GUI as Meta GUI (Windows / Command / Meta) and QMK LGUI(kc) G(kc), LCMD(kc), LWIN(kc) https://docs.qmk.fm/feature_advanced_keycodes

My interpretation of “Meta key, its functionality may be invoked by other keys such as the Windows key or Macintosh’s Option key” is that the Windows key is the meta key, isn’t it what it says?

Sure, my point is mainly to distinguish what is genuinely novel versus what already exist but people might not be aware of.

Not according to Wikipedia (linked to initially already) nor KDE Plasma which I’m using :

I’m planning my exit.

How can I help?