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Hikarunix: The Go Distro

LGRiske writes "In this day and age of the Unreal Final Fantasy of Doom 3 it's nice to see a 4000 year old board game keep up the pace. There's now a whole Linux distribution dedicated to learning, playing and studying the oldest strategy game in the world, Go/Baduk/WeiQi. Named Hikarunix it is based on DamnSmallLinux, the Live Linux CD, and is small enough to fit on a 3" (80mm) miniCD. It is meant for Go players of all levels whether you've never even heard of the game or have been playing for decades."

14 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting game by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...but very frustrating. I learned from a Chinese friend that brought a set from home. He got us all addicted (in college, we had time for this stuff). Soon we had maybe ten games spread out over the quad in front of our dorm. When I finally beat my friend in a match, I retired for good. I had to go out on a high note.

  2. Why the run around? by Askjeffro · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Would it not be easier to simply say the size of distro rather "the Live Linux CD, and is small enough to fit on a 3" (80mm) miniCD." Let us determine what media it will fit, I think most of us have had basic math.

  3. Re:Sigh too many distro by carrett · · Score: 3, Interesting

    is that really our goal? i already think oss is superior to anything M$ puts out. the only reason microsoft is still dominant is because it's what everyone is used to. all their favorite commercial products (games, office apps, etc.) are written for windows. i don't want a big unified all-powerful linux, i like it the way it is, with tons of highly specialized choices so i can pick the distro that suits my needs best. the question is, do you want choice or not?

    seriously, can we forget about "beating" microsoft. what's the point?

    --
    I'm against picketing but I don't know how to show it.
  4. Re:So... by dosius · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sai Go... lol

    (note for those not so versed in Japanese, "saigo" = "final")

    Moll.

    --
    What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
  5. What if... by p0 · · Score: 2, Interesting


    What if all the PC games came this way? With it's own OS, bundled with vendor drivers and so on?

    --
    This is my sig. There are thousands more, but this one is mine.
  6. Boot the ISO into vmware... by Kraegar · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Booting the ISO into vmware is a great way to keep all your go related stuff handy, without the reboots, and without having to install a lot of stuff.

    It's also handy to keep an ISO of knoppix-STD for booting and using security related tools in a seperate VM.

    (knoppix-STD is also done by the same individual who does the Hikarunix bootable go CD).

    1. Re:Boot the ISO into vmware... by jbarr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I disagree. VMware is GREAT for "testing" .ISO's and working in "isolated" environments. For example, I have VPN access to work from my home computer. For some reason, the VPN client messes up my PC's networking. So, I just fire up a VMware session that contains a "clean" install of Windows XP Pro and the VPN client, and it's instant-connection-to-work time. When I'm done, I just shut sown the session and have no hassles. It's also a great way to try out new versions of Knoppix, or whatever distro you're interested in.

      Sure, it's overkill "just to play a game" but if your system can handle it, it's certainly effortless.

      --
      My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
    2. Re:Boot the ISO into vmware... by Kraegar · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I have several different bootable ISO's I use, including the two mentioned above. I could either carry a stack of CDs, and reboot when I want to use them, or I can leave them as ISO's and just boot them in vmware. It has the advantage that I don't have to quit what I'm doing, and I can use different tools from different OS's at once.

      The go ISO was not the first one I'd done that with, as I'd only recently discovered it. But I do find that a handy method of bringing up the tools I want quickly.

      It also has the advantage that I don't have to worry about installing / configuring all of those tools, I just keep up to date on my bootable ISO's.

  7. I wrote the first commercial Go Playing Program by MarkWatson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In the late 1970s, I wrote a Go playing program on very limited hardware: my Apple II (serial number 79 - an old one, but with extra memory).

    Anyway, my old boss (who once joked that he almost did not get his PhD from MIT because he spent too much time playing Go) convinced me to sell this beast - even though it did not play a strong game it did know about liberties, ladders, some Joseki, etc.

    Anyway, I sold it as "Honinbo Warrior". I am fairly sure that it was the first commercially available Go playing program. I did not make too much money from it because advertising costs in Apple magazines ate up most of the revenue.

    -Mark

  8. Re:All I know about Go by tetsuji · · Score: 2, Interesting
    One of the cool things about Hikaru is that the games that they show being played in the anime are actual, historical games.

    I remember the first time a friend showed me an episode of Hikaru, and about half way through I started getting this intense sensation of deja-vu. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the game that the characters were playing was one I had memorized out of a book of famous games!

  9. Re:As someone who's terrible at strategy games... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    At the U.S. Go Congress this year, there was a quite strong 6-dan player who learned to play entirely over the internet. It was a bit funny, as he was a bit awkward putting the stones on the board, and counting (as scoring at the end of the game is quite different in person vs. on-line).

  10. Round Go by c64cryptoboy · · Score: 3, Interesting
    --
    I put the 'fun' in fundamentalism
  11. Re:Go is flawed by Strioa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, the ko rule creates ko fights which, once your not scared of them anymore, is a pretty interesting layer of the game. Because in order to settle a local dispute(the ko itself) you have to play elsewere alternatively, thus waging both a local and a global battle at the same time.

    It's kind of hard to convey if you're not that familiar with the game, but it's actually one of the coolest and hardest things in Go, IMO.

    strioa

  12. Round? Try a torus! by Mr.Mustard · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I ran across this crazy Go "board" a few weeks ago.

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    fnord