steamvr is very buggy on linux

foss vr solutions like envision are preferred

With the right hardware and the right version of Proton, the majority of Steam VR games will work with the Vive and Index out of the box. However, GPU driver issues will likely be a problem unless you're selecting hardware that you know plays nice with Linux.

I have had no issues running beatsaber on my 7900xt/5800x3d. I assume you don't mean anything else either. /s

to be honest, i have had nearly no issues running anything at all. Only bf6 has been a notable failure for me so far.

Things mostly work fine in Proton, but this is more a software development and game engine issue than anything else. If developers wanted to make their games more compati5with Linux or Proton they could, it just costs money and effort.

I’m on a much weirder setup than you’re proposing — Bazzite Linux with a Pico 4 connected wirelessly via ALVR — and it mostly just works. I had to jump through a few hoops to get everything working to start, mostly related to tweaking wireless and audio configuration, but these are things I doubt you’ll encounter at all with an Index. I haven’t tried a game yet that doesn’t work. I mostly just care about Beat Saber and a couple of others, but they’re all working well. I’ve even bought a few new games since switching to Linux, and I can’t recall any I’ve tried that don’t work, out of maybe a dozen or so total I’ve tried. I suspect you'll have a much smoother experience with the Index.

I don't know about the current state of wired VR for Linux.

You are mostly stuck with ALVR for wireless and a few other options like that. Though if you like Linux, ALVR is basically the Linux of wireless VR anyway. You can get it working well if you really like spending time in settings menus instead of playing games, or copying someone else's pre-configured settings for similar hardware/networking gear/setup.

But there is a chance SteamVR/Steam link will get a decent push for Linux around the time of the Steam Frame(deckard) launch.

Unfortunately, SteamVR on Linux has a flickering bug that hasn't been fixed in years, making games unplayable if the game is running at anything less than full FPS. It's fine if you play less demanding games, though. (I use Valve Index and AMD RX 7900 XT)

If you use Envision instead of SteamVR, it works perfectly smooth. However, Envision isn't fully compatible with all games. I got a particular issue where the wrist positions are slightly misplaced in VRChat, but there are already WIP changes to fix that.

So, all in all, not great, but it works. I hope SteamVR improves when Valve's new headset comes out.

My understanding is that if it's an Index, you should be fine.

That being said, I don't use one.