The update-alternatives error can be handled with
# ln -s /usr/bin/inform /usr/bin/inform-6.31and running [code]
apt-get install
[/code] or [code]
aptitude install
[/code] (according to which is your preference) afterwards.
I’m on Arch Linux, and I had a lot of trouble when I first started trying to setup IF interpreters. At first, I wanted to use all native software. Arch Linux is a lightweight distribution, though, and the user repository people usually follow that philosophy. Interpreters like Zoom and Scarce were not built with multimedia support. Really the only thing I got working without any problems was QTads, and like 90% of the IF I’ve played is from Inform, not TADS. Support for glk seems to be especially terrible on Linux. When I tried to build glulx, I didn’t know whether to use gtkglk or xglk, but in the end it didn’t matter because neither seem to be in active development and none of them would build on my system. x_x
In the end, I gave up and installed the Windows version of Gargoyle in wine, which seems to be the most widely-compatible solution and provides a very attractive, consistent interface for all my IF. Well, except for those few TADS games, for which I use the much less pretty but very multimedia capable QTads.
One thing I can be thankful for is gnome-inform7. Generally, I don’t like my software to have a lot of unnecessary dependencies (If you can stick with GTK and forgo gnome/kde, I’m more likely to use your software rather than an alternative), but I hope someone has given that Chimento fellow a pat on the back recently, because the linux Inform7 IDE is rock solid.
Is there a reason you’re not using Gargoyle’s native Gtk layer under Linux? There’s even an ArchLinux package for it.
Also, Grotesque deserves a mention (along with its ArchLinux package.)
I downloaded Gargoyle at the suggestion of the wiki, which implies that the linux version does not fully support zblorb files. Grotesque looks interesting. I’ll read up on it some more, thanks. 
I’m not aware of any shortcomings in the way Gargoyle handles zblorb files on Linux. The blorb loading and interpreter selection code is the same on all platforms.
This wasn’t true before last year’s release, though. Before then, Gargoyle under Gtk was launched from a command line shell script.
It’s possible that this rumor got started because of Floatpoint, which (incorrectly) has a zblorb extension despite being a Glulx story file. The shell script wasn’t smart enough to handle this case, and would try to load it with Frotz.
The current launcher is smart enough, but gets overridden by the default .ini settings, which enforce opening .zblorb files with a particular interpreter. This allows players to easily switch between Frotz, Nitfol, and Bocfel, at the cost of subverting the blorb-handling logic. So the .ini also contains a setting to force Floatpoint to be loaded with Glulxe.
Hacks within hacks, I know, but at least I’ve stopped getting bug reports about it.
Ah, ok. I switched to the Linux version and haven’t run into any problems. Thanks. 
Hello,
just adding to the thread with a new problem.
Recently, someone posted an adrift demo “Spectre of Castle Coris” which is an exe file.
Linux gargoyle does not like it. Adrift runner needs mono.
But when I try to install mono-runtime on my debian, I only get an apparently broken mono installation.
=> “The entry point method could not be loaded”
Anyone with more success here? Any tricks?
Also, I don’t know adrift format. Any chance to get the exe-format running at all?
Thanks,
Matthias.
I think the .exe file is a Windows executable file that wraps the game and the latest ADRIFT Runner in one executable. And Gargoyle doesn’t support ADRIFT 5 either, since this is more recent than the last version of Gargoyle ^^ So running ADRIFT 5 games can (I think) only be done in Windows right now.
Sorry, I think you’re going to have to use Wine!