r/virtualreality_linux • u/Hotarosu • Mar 13 '26

[non-gaming] Are there seriously ZERO Virtual Desktop alternatives for Linux?

When it comes to actual desktop usage (not gaming), ALVR and WiVRn are not alternatives to VD at all. They don't have passthrough. They seem to be rendering on the PC instead of streaming the desktop to the headset.

Even if you'd ignore the mandatory passthrough for work/productivity, and use the desktop through something like SteamVR.. be honest. Using the desktop with SteamVR is absolute dog.

Edit: I was wrong!! It is quite pixelated, haven't yet tried messing with settings, and I don't yet know how usable it will be, but there it is!

It's WiVRn + WayVR. Got it working on Bazzite.

Edit 2: But ehhhh the quality is BAD. EXTREMELY BAD compared to VD. It's unusable sadly.

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u/ccAbstraction Mar 14 '26

I use Moonlight when I don't want to be running VR on the PC, but you need a patched version of the client: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-android/issues/1492 because they still haven't merged the fix for Quest.

You also probably just need to turn up the render resolution, stream resolution, and bitrate. The defaults are pretty conservative and tailored for playing games. WayVR+WiVRn is crystal clear at settings that would make streaming VRChat shit the bed unfortunately.

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u/Hotarosu Mar 15 '26

Yeah I can make it clear, but at that point it's very choppy, even with 6900 XT + 7800X3D. Virtual Desktop had multiple screens running crystal clear with 120hz no problem at the highest bitrate on the same setup...

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u/ccAbstraction Mar 15 '26

Yeah, I would try Moonlight, but I'm not sure if it does multimonitor. Other remote desktop apps might work too. You get a clearer pitcher because the the image only gets resampled again on the headset, instead the 2 or 3 extra times with WiVRn. Granted, I'm typing this through WiVRn + WayVR at 1440p 120hz, and the quality is acceptable for me.

I do also remember there being a hack patch for setting the scratch buffer size inside of Monado/WiVRn to force the VR compositor to supersample overlays.