by 3040Krag on 21 Jan 2010 18:13
Linux has OpenGL, so a graphics interface is not an issue. The issue is that games address the hardware through MS Windows system calls. To "talk" with a mouse, for instance, the game makes a connection with a MS Windows-specific mouse interface. The same for CPU, GPU, memory, display, etc etc etc. Also, MS made a big push for game developers to use DirectX. That's proprietary code and MS won't be releasing it any time soon. Only a few games use GL.
Some games have been ported to Linux (Doom, for instance) but unless the vendor releases the source code this cannot happen.
There have been attempts to provide DOS and Windows "emulations" that can handle a software request from a Microsoft platform game or other software. One such project for Linux, WINE, works but can require a lot of effort and intimate knowledge of both Windows and the game to successfully "install" a game. A company called CodeWeavers took the free WINE source and provide a pay-for package called "Cross Over Games" that makes the process easier for supported games, but their list currently includes 205 games out of the thousands available for Windows. Nice, but not a final solution. Both WINE and Code Weavers have been at this for several years and no earth-shattering breakthrough seems to be forthcoming.
Some native Linux games are available, but nothing in the mainstream. Or, a multi-player game server is available but not the end-user version. The fact that Linux can be had for the price of a download, is a highly efficient and powerful windowed computing environment, and is under continued and active development makes it attractive as a gaming platform. The fact it's difficult to impossible to run Windows games on it shoots that dream down faster than a NEWSA shotgun!