I've always liked computer games. When I used Windows I liked to play games like Myst and Riven, but when I switched to Linux I had to be contented with first-person shooters. Fortunately, they do have a bit of puzzle intermixed with all the combat, but I still grow weary of gunfight after gunfight. That's why when I heard of Penumbra, I was quite excited. Penumbra Overture is a 3D first-person mystery puzzle game. It's a bit like the Quakes without the gunplay. Or perhaps it could be likened to Myst and Riven, but lots more frightening.

Last fall when the two mega-distros openSUSE and Mandriva both hit the mirrors, it was difficult to decide which I liked better. In an attempt to narrow it down, I ran some light-hearted tests and found Mandriva won out in a side-by-side comparison. But things change rapidly in the Linux world and I wondered how a competition of the newest releases would come out. Mandriva 2008.1 was released this past April and openSUSE 11.0 was released just last week.

While we're all waiting for PCLOS 2008 to be released, we were treated to a kissing cousin yesterday with the release of TinyMe 2008.0. It's a small lightweight distro featuring the LXDE desktop with lots of handy apps. I thought I'd take it for a little test run this evening to see what it might be like.

I was cleaning up my /home partiton when I noticed I had several tiny distros hanging around waiting to be tested. So I thought this might be a good time to write an updated Mini-distro Roundup. The five contestants are CDlinux 0.6.1, Damn Small Linux 4.3r2, Puppy 4.0rc, Slitaz 1.0, and Austrumi 1.6.5.

I was glancing through the top searches for my site and noticed one string I thought I'd try to answer it. That search was openSUSE vs Ubuntu. Now, I've avoided formally comparing Ubuntu to other distros such as openSUSE or Mandriva before because in my book it's like comparing apples to oranges, but for the sake of those searching, I will try.

Hans Reiser, the programmer behind the reiserfs used in many Linux systems, is being charged with the murder of his estranged wife, Nina Reiser. Reiser was interviewed on 20/20 last night and it was quite disturbing. His shifty eyes, monotone voice, and shallow cheeks gave all appearances of guilt. His answers didn't help his case either.

On-Disk.com gives developers and projects an outlet for cdrom and DVD disk distribution while also allowing them to earn some much needed resources to further their work. Webpath Technologies, the parent company of On-Disk.com, is proud and excited to report that they have paid out over 21,000 USD to Linux and software projects.

I've followed development of openSUSE and Mandriva fairly closely over the years, albeit a bit closer of openSUSE. I write about how nice they both are. I pick out the new features and test basic functionality. I see what's included and what makes up the base system. I like them both. But a visitor and contributor here at tuxmachines asked which would be better for his laptop and that gave me the idea to compare these large multi-CD Titans of Linux development.

I raved about the new Mandriva 2008.0 Power Pack as I was truly smitten. I switched to Mandriva from Windows fulltime back when it was known as Mandrake, so I've followed it's releases fairly closely. I found Mandriva 2008 Power Pack to be the best release since Mandrake 7.2. But what about the Free version? We all know the advertised differences, but were there going to be major differences in performance and stability? I set out to see.

Those that know me or my work in the Linux community know I always see the good in Linux distributions and open source software. I'm a "glass-is-half-full" kinda gal where Linux is concerned. But I'm having a hard time finding anything good at all to say about Ubuntu. Why the h-e-double_hockey_sticks is it so popular? It's the next thing to running nothing there is.

OpenSUSE 10.3 final is due out in just a few days, so let's take a look at the progress. Folks have been testing this release candidate and posting their thoughts here and there. My own testing was delayed primarily due to the some of the joys of running Gentoo fulltime, but I was finally able to devote my full attention to openSUSE 10.3 RC1. As per my usual, I downloaded the DVD iso delta. This time it was 422 MB. I don't usually test everything with these developmental releases, but what I have tested is looking good.

KateOS 3.6 was released a few days ago. Since KateOS has always been one of my favorite distributions and since I haven't looked at it recently, I decided to take it for a test run on my HP Pavillion laptop. It always supported the hardware on my desktop, so I was interested to see how it would fare with wireless ethernet and powersaving features. There are two versions available: a full 2.4 GB DVD and a 700 MB live CD. I chose the 700 MB live CD.

As you may have noticed, DistroWatch.com is now back up. The attack continues, but Ladislav was able to bring the site back online after ruthless DDOS attacks rendered the site inaccessible for much of the weekend.

Welp, we're in the homestretch now. Beta 3 of openSUSE 10.3 was released a few days ago, and with only one more developmental release before final, we were hoping things were starting to shape up. This release doesn't bring too many surprises or any new eye candy, but most subsystems are stablizing. With 587 MB of changes, developers are homing in on their goal.

Another developmental release of the upcoming openSUSE 10.3 was released a few days ago with some improvements, some regressions, and some minor eye candy changes. I didn't test Beta 1 as it seemed to be released too soon after Alpha 7, so I had to test Beta 2. I did download the approximate 550 MB delta file for it though, so I was ready for the 515 MB delta for Beta 2.