Hey, at least it's a good step in the right direction.

GOG could easily support teletype Linux gamers with aalib. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRPoS2WDJA

Exactly. It's a prerequisite. Whatever steps they need to take - it's a first huge step.

I have yet to see an argument for GOG's all or nothing stance. Why MUST GOG's version of some games like Book Of Unwritten Tales lack something you can get elsewhere? Who would it hurt for GOG to provide unsupported Linux binaries in such cases?

The computer illiterate Linux users with lacking reading comprehension skills that happen to have a system that doesn't run the games without a bit of fairy magic.

That theoretically is also a counterpoint for most computer games in general. People buying computer games without the specs to make them run and then complaining the games won't run.

I'm not really arguing against what you said because it makes sense from a business point of view, although similar problems have been dealt in the past and it obviously worked well else we wouldn't have PC gaming as a whole.

It can be countered with a simple refund system (i.e: if you buy a game, you can ask for a refund in the next 48 hours if the game doesn't run) or by specifying on the download/shop page that the game will only run on a specific distro (see: Ubuntu probably) and that any further attempts to get the game running on other distros will be at the user's discretion.

Pair that with games that already have native Linux clients (which aren't shipped with the gog purchase though... it's a shame) and you don't need much to do. Also, projects like gogonlinux can help getting "unofficial" compatibility out without falling on the shoulders of the gog.com guys.

No it doesn't hurt them. It doesn't take anything away from them. Indeed they likely won't know about its existence(otherwise they wouldn't be computer illiterate). That is grasping at straws for a reason, any reason not to do it IMO.

Problem here with GOG is that you need 10 bucks and a lot of time to buy and download the entire catalogue.

I don't understand.. sure, it takes 10 bucks and some time to download the game but I doubt it will take more than 48 hours to test it out and see if it works on your machine or not... Or is this not what you were talking about?

You have an honest mind, that's good. See, what you can do is to download the game from GOG, tell support it doesn't work and demand refund, get money, and buy/download another game. Since they're DMR-free, well, there's nothing to stop you from playing them continually.

May be Fenixp was saying that GOG should worry about fakers who will buy and "return" all games in order to get them all for free.

You'd be surprised how far a bit of misunderstanding and lack of skill can take you :p
Visiting a site like Facebook or GOG doesn't mean you're computer literate. Someone could enter the site while looking for girls of gaming or some other thing like that ("my friend told me you sellz some Linux gaems, boiii"), spot a "Linux_package.derp.tarp.geese" in the extras and ride the wave of misconception like the somber Autumn wind after a hurricane. Earlier there was a guy who thought GOG sells Steam games, and that ruined the whole dinner party.
The point is that if there's a Linux package in the extras, the chances of Linux users buying it will probably increase significantly. If it happens that those guys can't get it working, they might be mighty peeved by it, even if it's listed as unsupported (it happens, it happens a lot), and start making unsavory noises with their mouths. GOG peeps don't want people hearing unsavory noises about GOG :p

Oh, I know I know, if we're going down that route.. (I wan't taking piracy in consideration, not even once since this whole thing is an alien concept to GOG, else they'd be forcing more DRM down user's throats regardless of platform)
Piracy for gog games is already at pretty big levels for gog (I haven't pirated a game in god knows how long but I know gog games are easily available on the internet), with the whole no DRM thing yadda yadda, however that has never stopped the gog people and it shouldn't stop them now either.
By that logic, I could just go and pirate the linux version of the game in the first place and see if it works. If it doesn't, I don't buy it :)
I will repeat, can't the same idea be applied for all of PC gaming? God knows how many games I have bought in my childhood (without becoming computer literate) that didn't work on my old voodoo FX card or whatever... It's half expected in the PC gaming world, you need to check your specs and see if your machine supports it, else you would be getting a console.
This doesn't defend PC gaming, however countless companies already took their risk with this approach and there's obviously money to be gained else they wouldn't have lasted long.

More retailers supporting Linux means more people considering Linux development which in turn makes everyone's life easier. You can also ship your own downloader directly through a distro's repository (imagine a gog client.deb or take a look at something like my project http://www.gogonlinux.com/ which should be distro-independent) and make sure that gamers who want to buy from you use a supported downloader to run their games (supported downloader => supported distro => no more compatibility issues). Then give them the possibility to download an alternative package if they want to try (at their own risk) on a different "unsupported" distro.

I really see nothing wrong with that.

Yes, you should do exactly that if you're unsure, it doesn't cost GOG bandwitch, refunds aren't exactly 'free' either, and it's an aproach that noone can use to abuse GOG.