Extreme Gaming

The area of Spain known as Extremadura is famous as the home of the conquistadors, but more recently, the residents of this tenacious region have been fighting their own battle of conquest. And many believe they have come as close as anyone to defeating the most powerful software company in the world.

In one of the largest public Linux rollouts in history, the government of Extremadura, weary of paying high prices for inferior software, embarked on a bold campaign to convert all the region's computer systems - not just in government, but also in their schools and businesses - to Linux. And because they couldn't find a distribution with the perfect combination of stability, simplicity, and usability, they decided to create their own.

The government of Extremadura commissioned a new Debian-based distribution designed to be simple enough for non-technical users, yet versatile enough for the wide range of uses imagined in their ambitious plans. This new distro came to be known as GNU/LinEx.

The creators of GNU/LinEx wanted a system that would be a hit in the home, not just in the workplace, so they developed a special game version to encourage users to try the system out on their home computers.

To succeed with a home audience, they knew they would need a great collection of games for all ages, and they all knew they'd better have a fast and reliable system that could operate in the wild without expert oversight.

After months of coding, a team led by developer Dario Rapisardi unveiled the new game version of LinEx. They called this distro "JuegaLinEx," which means "Play LinEx". We just call it "Extreme Gaming".

Fast and Simple

Extreme Gaming is fast, simple, and built for fun. From GNU/LinEx, it inherits a practical and accessible system with the power of Debian. (Think of LinEx as the Spanish Ubuntu.) On that solid base, you'll find an enchanting collection of over 150 games: arcade games, board games, card games, puzzles, strategy games, and more. The games are organized by category for easy reference, and most are accessible from the desktop in easy-to-reach menus.

Extreme Gaming comes with all the old favorites and even includes several popular games that rarely appear on standard package lists, like Flightgear, Simutrans, and Battle of Wesnoth.

Extreme Gaming also contains a rich set of educational games covering topics such as Math, Geography, Music, Physics, and Chemistry. The educa-tion emphasis underscores the role of the Extreme Gaming as a tool for teaching.

But of course, Extreme Gaming isn't all about games. On this DVD is a complete Linux distribution designed for the home, including popular desktop tools like OpenOffice.org 1.1.0, Evolution, Mozilla Firefox 1.0.6, K3b, Gimp 2.0.6, and Gaim.

Are You Ready to Install?

Before installing, you need to make sure your PC is configured to boot from the DVD drive. You will find the relevant settings in the BIOS menu, which you can access by pressing either Del, F1, or F2 during bootup. Consult your mainboard manual or google.com for additional information.

Extreme Gaming comes with a GUI-based installer based on Anaconda. Slip the DVD in the drive, start your system, and follow the prompts. Be sure to choose a profile with 3D support if you wish to use simulators such as Flightgear.

Figure 1: Build your own metropolis with the Lincity simulation game.

Figure 2: Learn countries, maps, and capitals with Kgeography.

Figure 3: Save the planet from malevolent aliens.

Figure 4: Practice your piloting skills with Flightgear.