calamariOS, Huh, What?

When one hears the word calamari, they usually think "yuk!" ...or I do anyway. Others will still inevitably think "fried squid." So, when such an unusual name for a Linux distribution popped up on distrowatch.com, it caught my attention. Then when I saw it was based on openSUSE, I had to give it a boot.

It's not often you see a distribution based on openSUSE. But, as it turns out, it was built using SUSE Studio. With that one can design an installable live CD or USBs as well as a cloud system. You can pick and choose whatever software your heart desires and, like a Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle, your distro magically appears. So, it doesn't feel quite like a "real distro" compiled from scratch while your better half threatens divorce, buuut, it's close enough to get on Distrowatch's waiting list. So, let's take a peek.

The Website isn't flashy, but there is some interesting tidbits in the About. CalamariOS is designed to be a high performing system that offers a nice selection of desktops. It says, "With prelink installed, Calamari learns how your programs work and optimizes itself so they launch quickly and run efficiently." There was no explanation of the name choice, but credit was given to Clarence Siew who helped him think of it.

The live image itself is pretty and features GNOME 3.6, but I guess the installed system would prove the high performance. It does come with ample software and tools, but 3D support is up to you. It certainly proves that SUSE Studio is a handy and fun tool from the folks at openSUSE and Novell.