Not a dumb question if you haven’t been keeping up.

The Steam Deck runs Linux and not Windows by default. (It can be loaded by the user if desired.)

Given their desire for a nearly-console-like experience, they put in a bunch of effort into the Proton compatibility layer to get Windows games to work here. It’s not perfect, but it really is a very good experience at this point.

I personally do have a fairly powerful Windows desktop, but the vast majority of my gaming is on Linux on my Steam Deck now.

No.

DRM is an artificial obstacle put in place to get in the way of something entirely technologically possible.

The elements discussed here are just the natural steps to perform an action outside of the standard workflow, and are actually of reasonable difficulty. Saying “you are free to do it, but I’m not going to help you” is the exact opposite of DRM.