Late last month, Steam asked those who were on Linux if they might be interested in participating in the closed beta for a brand new flavor of their client. And just a few weeks later, it is finally underway.
According to Valve's page on the matter, Steam for Linus is for Ubuntu 12.04, due to the face that the vast majority of Linux users are running that particular version. Approximately two-dozen games are available, with the highlight being the free-to-play hit Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell, Valve President and co-founder, had this to say:
"This is a huge milestone in the development of PC gaming… Steam users have been asking us to support gaming on Linux. We're happy to bring rich forms of entertainment and our community of users to this open, customer-friendly platform."
Over 60,000 Linux advocates responded to the open call within its first week. The initial beta will draw from this large pool. Only a small percentage was granted access as of yesterday, but as time goes on, it will grow.
Some might recall how Newell is not a fan of Windows 8, and feels how Microsoft's operating system being the dominated player when it comes to PC gaming might soon be over, hence why his company is looking towards new, untapped horizons.