Linux gamers do in fact exist and, as promised by 2D Boy, they can now start playing acclaimed indie puzzler World of Goo. The developers have also talked about the challenge of Linux porting.
The game is $20, DRM-free and supports 64-bit systems. A demo version featuring the game's first chapter is available if you want to try before you buy.
Linux blogger Ken Starks talked to 2D Boy's Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, and wrote a detailed post about the development difficulties, technical and otherwise, posed by porting Goo over to Linux. Gabler says:
"There were a few small technical hurdles, but Maks is either a genius, or the port was not much trouble at all! One technical hurdle was with Pulse Audio, which apparently comes standard on major distros like Ubuntu. It introduces quite a bit of audio lag. This would be fine for most applications, but it's not good for games, where the goal is to build an extremely responsive system that feels snappy. We were able to work with it, and get the game feeling right, but it took a bit of effort. I realize I'll get shot for saying this, but in Windows, it just worked right away!"
"Also, and I've mentioned this before - Linux is created by too many smart opinionated people! There are a lot of very good ideas, but it can become difficult for developers to support all the different distro formats, bundles, audio/video systems. For linux to REALLY take over, it has to be easy for developers to make stuff, and easy for users to get stuff. It's one of those things where too many options can be suffocating, and ultimately hurt the cause."
World of Good Linux Version is Ready! [2D Boy via LinuxGames]