The First Image Of Desura Running On Linux

As pointed out in our forums, the first screenshot of Desura running on Linux has emerged. Desura is a digital distribution service that's similar to Valve's Steam service, but at this point is primarily used by indie game developers and game mods.

Desura was released for Microsoft Windows in 2009 after being in development for two years, but months ago, it was revealed that Mac OS X and Linux ports of this content delivery software were in development.

Unlike Valve, the company behind this digital distribution service (Desura Pty Ltd) also doesn't develop a game engine or their own titles, but this is purely an independent game distribution mechanism. However, there are already several Linux-compatible games that are distributed by Desura, including many of the Humble Indie Bundle titles. There's also various triple-A titles with native Linux clients available independently, like Doom III and Unreal Tournament 2004.

Posted to ModDB, which is also owned by Desura, is the first Linux screenshot. It's just a Linux screenshot of the Desura's log-in window.

The caption simply says, "Exciting stuff... but a long way to go yet!" It isn't too different from the first screenshots of Valve's Steam running natively on Linux that we posted last year with rendering of the log-in window. But not as far as images released since.

What do you think will be released natively for Linux first, Valve's Steam or Desura?

P.S. In related news, with the Steam version of the new Steel Storm: Burning Retribution game, there are native Linux binaries bundled with the game (as mentioned by one of the developers). At the moment, this allows you to run the game natively on Linux if running the Steam client via Wine. But, of course, when the native Linux client for Steam is publicly available to Phoronix readers and everyone, there isn't any reason to run the client portion through Wine.