Linux
Linux (or GNU/Linux) is an open source alternative Operating System created in the early 1990s by Linus Torvalds, implementing a POSIX compatible Unix-like system. Since then it has become a major player in the server market - e.g. almost all web servers run Linux - and for embedded systems like Smartphones - e.g. Google Android runs on a Linux system. It supports a wide variety of hardware, from common Intel and AMD x86/x64 PCs to Arm or PowerPC based systems to huge server farms with hundreds or thousands of CPUs.
Linux on Desktops is still rather scarce, there are only a few enthusiasts that run a Linux desktop system instead of Microsoft Windows or MacOS X as their primary OS. Nonetheless at least two of the Tomb Raider Games have been officially released for Linux. (See list below.) Most of the other (Windows based) games can be played using Wine, an execution layer that simulates most of the Windows APIs, but results vary widely.
Linux comes in the form of many different distributions that include lots of end user software, of which Ubuntu has become one of the more predominant in recent years, but it is still possible to build a system directly from the freely available source code, either directly or by using source code distributions such as Gentoo.
A distribution aiming at gaming is provided by Steam in the form of Steam OS; they even sell their own hardware optimized for Linux, starting with the Steam Machine in the mid 2010s and more recently with the portable Steam Deck. Valve also provides access to many games ported to Linux and those which have not ben ported natively to Linux are mostly supported by Proton, a fork of Wine. This development has sparked new hopes that in the future games might be developed with Linux as an alternative in mind.
Tomb Raider Games for Linux
The following Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Games have been released for Linux, either as a stand alone retail version or as a download version.
- Ported to Linux in 2016 by Feral Interactive
- Officially supports Ubuntu 14.04 or SteamOS 2.0 (on 64 bit AMD or Intel CPU)
- Ported to Linux in 2018 by Feral Interactive
- Ported to Linux in 2019 by Feral Interactive[3]
Additionally, other games are supported using a combination of Steam/Wine/Proton.
