So I finally decided to try DF, just to find that the Linux build is 32-bit only, and refuses to run out of the box on Ubuntu. After a fair bit of tinkering, I managed to get it to start (though I haven't extensively tested it to make sure). These directions will likely only work with Ubuntu 11.10 (oneiric), and possibly Ubuntu 11.04 (natty) as these were the versions when 32-bit compat support was GREATLY overhauled by the transition to multilib. If someone is running an older distro and needs help, I'll try and help provide instructions.
Trying to run DF at this point provides the following error
./libs/Dwarf_Fortress: error while loading shared libraries: libSDL-1.2.so.0: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
First off, unlike most distros, Ubuntu does NOT ship with 32-bit compatibility installed out of the box, so first download the DF package, and put it somewhere easy to get to, then you need to open a terminal, and run the following command
mcasadevall@daybreak:~/df_linux$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch libsdl1.2debian:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386 libsdl-image1.2:i386 libsdl-ttf2.0-0:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386 libopenal-dev:i386 libsndfile1-dev:i386
(the dev packages are needed to get proper symlinks needed for sndfile and openal to work around a bug in DF:
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=3200)
Enter your password when prompted.
Press enter, and let it run. When you see the prompt again, apt-get is done.
Trying to start DF however will still fail:
mcasadevall@daybreak:~/df_linux$ ./df
./libs/Dwarf_Fortress: error while loading shared libraries: libGL.so.1: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
The problem here is that libGL.so.1 is installed as part of MESA (or for those with ATi/NVIDIA video cards, as part of fglrx/nvidia drivers), and lives in the wrong folder on a multiarch install (its in /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa). I suspect this is a bug with the changeover to multiarch, but I haven't had time to run it down yet. Anyway, working around it is fairly straightforward, simply start DF with LD_LIBRARY_PATH as such and enjoy your dwarfy fun
mcasadevall@daybreak:~/df_linux$ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa/ ./df
If your lucky, you should see DF start up in a window. It's possible those with ATi/NVIDIA graphics cards might run into issues (GL on Linux is a serious case of black magic. If anyone tries this with the binary drivers for those cards, please report back. I have some deeper voodoo that should get THOSE working, but my laptop only has Intel video drivers).