SGG

If you have docker containers and other stuff all on that USB drive I’d really reccomend getting it all off that USB (not just logging) and onto a proper drive of some kind. USB thumb sticks are not reliable long term storage, you will wake up to find the drive failing one day and good chance you lose everything on it with little to no warning.

My guess is log files are being written to it? Might want to install a proper drive internally and redirect log storage. With less activity the USB drive should not heat up anywhere near as much.

It does not whip the llamas ass.

Games need to live closer to the bleeding edge than a lot of other software.

Also, for wine/proton, and the other customisations built into the deck, it makes sense to pick a starting point that is more built for customisation. By that I mean there was probably less things they needed to add or remove at the start.

As mentioned, it’s also likely there was personal bias internally. But even that can be a valid reason as they need to be familiar/comfortable with the starting distro.

Not saying that Debian cannot do it, but doing it this way probably made valve’s employees lives easier.