Linux gamers have seen a lot of support from independent developers recently, with a lot of indie games -- such as those involved in the Humble Bundle initiative -- extending support to the free and open-source operating system.

However, the best times for Linux gaming may still lie ahead if this report from Phoronix's Michael Larabel is accurate (via Slashdot. A Linux Enthusiast, software developer and tech analyst, Larabel describes a recent visit to Valve HQ, where he was consulting on a project to get the Steam platform, Source Engine and several of Valve's games functioning natively on Linux.

It has taken longer than most anyone would have anticipated, but the fact remains that Valve is in fact creating a native Linux port of their Steam game distribution client and of the Source Engine to run natively on Linux. Phoronix broke this story, i.e. in 2010 when announcing Valve's officially releasing Steam and the Source Engine for Linux. Unfortunately, it has taken longer for a variety of reasons, which led some gamers to think this was some Phoronix joke or that the information was inaccurate. It was not. Valve's Linux work is finally soon to see the light of day in what will more than likely be the coming months.

The article provides several photos of Left 4 Dead 2 running on Ubuntu and speculates that it will see the light of day in "the coming months". We're all familiar with how Valve time works, so who knows if this is as close as it seems, but assuming it does arrive soon, it's certain to be a good shot in the arm for Linux gaming that would no doubt encourage many other developers to release Linux supporting games.