Valve wants a boat that is independent of microsoft. Not to go down with that Tit.A.I.nic seems like a smart move.
Hardly when their business depends on running Windows games on top of Proton.
Independence of paying Windows licenses or Microsoft store taxes, sure.
Exactly, and they've not been quiet about it. It's why Steam works on Mac and Linux and they work so hard on being independent of all of those.