Really interesting review, thank you.
When you say this isn’t ready for most people, is that because the software needs more time, or the hardware isn’t there yet?
If I bought one of these today, could I expect to see better compatibility over the next 6 months to year with Steam games, or will it still be mostly for Android games and old system emulators?

It should all be open source.
First thing is mods should just exist on free hosting providers for source code like GitHub/Lab etc.
Then an optional mod manager software that can import mods from these sources.
Non of this really needs a centralised community, these places already exist thanks to other better suited services like social media

Linux is no more complicated than Windows, we just know what we know.
Start by trying one of the big names like Ubuntu or Fedora.
There’s not exactly better distros for gaming, it’s just about what’s preinstalled, that’s why Bazzite exists.
A good idea is to install something like VirtualBox on your Windows machine and test out some distros to learn your way around them.
Yes, I decided i wanted to learn touch typing a while ago, I switched to a different layout from QWERTY called Coleman, it’s fairly similar but puts the most common letters on the home row or near your first and second fingers, while keeping the position of common shortcut keys like Z, X, C.
I also switched my keyboard to an Ortholinear style which i found helped with my accuracy as i was learning.
Its been a long time since I played this, but I remember that you will have to play it through at least 3 time for each story arc, so pick a faction and loyalty and Stick with it, don’t play both sides.
Also in terms of character class I would suggest some kind of magic user, Tyranny had a cool, quite unique magic system where you can craft your own spells.
There’s a good amount of NPC party members you can find so you’ll be able to fill in any gaps in your party eventually.
It’s a great game, a shame they didn’t develop a sequel, I prefered it to Pillars of Eternity, have fun!