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Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Linux, Novell, Open Source

Flipping the Linux switch: openSUSE, geeko of many colors

YaST looks really hawt today.Please, allow me to explain. This week's FTLS was not at all what I intended it to be. For weeks now, I've been toying with idea of dual-booting a Debian based distro with a RPM based distro. Ubuntu Hardy (now reasonably mature enough for day to day use with minimal bork ups) was the obvious choice for a Debian flavor, as it already existed on my hard drive.

I am not a big fan of RPM based stuff, in general. I historically have had some real issues with installing Fedora on any piece of hardware I touch. I am intrigued to pieces by PCLinuxOS, but not intrigued enough to actually try it. SuSE, when it was just plain ol' SuSE, was the first Linux I ever tried. I liked it well enough, and it does hold a dear place in my heart. I guess it's kind of like a first crush.

The last openSUSE install I tried for any real length of time was 10.1. I installed 10.3 a month or two back to try some things, and found, though it's really usable, there wasn't anything that made me want to say, "Screw Ubuntu."

But I wanted to try openSUSE as my RPM based distro, again, because there are some nifty little apps on the horizon that seem, for now, to work best/easiest with openSUSE and/or RPM distros. I intended, wholeheartedly, to write about one of those little apps this week.

Until I reinstalled openSUSE 10.3, with the GNOME desktop. I was taken by the whole presentation, the whole delivery of the OS. I am still blown away by it.

Maybe not blown away enough to stop using Ubuntu entirely... but I haven't actually booted into Hardy for some time now. And I am anxiously waiting to see what changes are in store for openSUSE 11.0, due this summer.

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Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Linux, Open Source, Troubleshooting

Flipping the Linux switch: 5 tips every new Linux user should know

Linux is a powerful operating system, but chances are it's a very different operating system than any you've used before. The dizzying number of choices in distributions alone is enough to make your head spin, but it also means there's something out there that really suits your computing style. There are some things in Linux you just have to work out for yourself -- distributions, applications, neato screen savers (hey, we like distractions as much as the next guy).

We're taking a departure from the norm this week and not discussing a specific piece of software. Instead, we've been thinking about what we most wished we'd been told on our first foray into Linux-land. These tips run the gamut from installation planning to how to best ask for help. We chose these tips because they are not distribution-specific, and the majority of new users will at least find a few tips apply to their situation at some point.

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Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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