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Steam Coming To Linux, Probably
Intrepid users have dug up code in the Mac Steam beta that point toward active development for migrating the digital distribution service to the open-source Linux operating system.
Courtesy of Linux blog Phoronix, the shell script for the Mac Steam launcher contains code that includes Linux operating systems on its list of platforms when it determines what system it's running under. Furthermore, the blog cites a leaked pre-release binary of a Linux distribution of the Steam client as evidence of Valve's coming inclusion of the OS in the Steam fold. A user reportedly got the binaries to execute just enough to render the pre-loading image, as seen above.
Valve has not released a statement on the matter, nor has the company responded to requests for comment. Nonetheless, this is all very similar to the situation before the Mac announcement. There's an awful lot of smoke here for there to not be any fire, and the nuts and bolts of Mac OS X and Linux are similar enough that many programs released for one are ported to the other with little hassle. It is hardly a stretch to envision Valve moving in a similar direction.
[Pic: Phoronix]
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