It is a full blown Linux OS. You can switch out of the gaming specific mode/UI to a Linux desktop environment using KDE. There you can install your own software.
The only limiting factor is that the root file system is read only by default (can be disabled). If you want to install system level packages, you can work around this by using something like distrobox.
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Yes I know I own a Deck. I’m just saying that the Steam layer is not, since the comment I was replying to was asking why you’d still need Plasma and not use the Steam UI to use it as a desktop
Nugscree@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Because the Steam UI is limited to their software, you would still need a desktop environment and they chose KDE Plasma, if you want you could can customize it to look like anything or just replace it with Gnome (or other desktop environment for that you fancy). My guess to why they would not do this is you would create a dependency on you as a company to apply/check the changes for every update, instead of just relying on the desktop supplier (KDE) if you use the default UI.