I was out of country for the past month. I have access to two monitors, and I brought a keyboard, wireless mouse, and a small JBL speaker. It has been a pretty good experience. I have edited documents, images, and created PDF’s. I can connect to jobs that require windows with a web browser to Azure Virtual Desktop. I have streamed live events, worked on my home servers, and it is always snappier than a windows machine. With a click I am back in handheld gaming mode playing SNES games, or Elden Ring.
There are a few hurdles: if there isn’t a flatpak for software installs can get tricky. For instance look up about adding tailscale. Remember the system is Steam. You are basically a guest in that environment. It’s Arch, but steam is making sure it can boot and restore back to a working steam state.
Second, a single monitor, or using a even less powerful computer with steam link works great. Dual monitors has some issues.
But as a travel PC, I have been very happy with it. I too am a long time linux user, so nothing about the apps or os really surprises me. Linux has been my only os at home for a very long time.