MAngband

Is there a client, or a way to compile the client for linux?

Nope... I never programmed under Linux, and probably won't release a client. If you want to play under Linux, try WinE.

is there any windows specific code? I suppose I could try and make a make file.

The client is windows only. Some files, especially main-win.c have no Linux counterpart. For Linux, you would need to develop your own client.

I use to use Wine to run the server on my Linux box. I also used Wine to play the game, It's pretty stable for the most part and works very well with playing on a Linux Machine.