Support Linux and Independent Game Developers with the Humble Indie Bundle

According to Brian Lunduke, the statistics for game purchase conversions from his experience breaks down as follows: windows users are converted at about 1 in 1000, and Linux users are converted at around 1 in 50. There is also the concept that in order for Linux to become a mainstream desktop operating system, it needs commercial development support. Companies need to be able to make money with Linux in order for them to make any sort of investment in it, and for the game development industry, this is especially true.

There is now an opportunity to make a purchase that support 5 independent games that run on Linux. The Humble Indie Bundle is an offering where you get to decide how much you want to pay (anywhere from $0.01 to hundreds of dollars). They also offer you the opportunity to mix your contribution in any way you want between the developers and the two quality charities. They have a nice musical video explaining the process that is a very unique commercial for this type of game bundle. I chose to spend $35.00 and I chose for all of the money to go to the developers. Although the charities I could have selected, including Childs Play and the EFF, are definitely worthwhile (The EFF in particular from my perspective), the key missing piece in the Linux landscape is Development Company buy-in, so I decided to support the developers above the charities.

In the package:

1. World of Goo - World of Goo is offered as a .deb or a .rpm. Installing the deb doesn't connect the application to any of the standard menu, but it installs 32bit and 64bit executables in /opt/WorldOfGoo/.
2. Aquaria - Offering a 32bit binary executable (aquaria-lnx-humble-bundle.mojo.run: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.8, stripped)
3. Gish - 32 and 64bit binaries packaged directly a inside a tar.
4. Lugaru[HD] - 32 bit binary executable. Works under 64 bit Ubuntu. Installed to the location of your choice.
5. Penubra Overture - A .sh file with an embedded binary blob. Uses Nixstaller and asks where you would like the installation. For me the installer crashed at 1/2, but starting the game still worked.