Linux and Go

by ilanpi

Some say that Linux is the best platform for playing Go. But is go the best platform for Linux?

Oh, no!! I think Linux just sharted on my go ban.


Poor Linux, I'm not sure Go agrees with him:

Hey, what are you looking at? Is it my m..., m...


So, I was pretty impressed when Linux told me he was determined to learn go and asked me to lend him some of my books.

Things seemed to go pretty well as he was quietly studying go problems in the other room. After a couple of hours I went over to check on his progress and this is what I found:













It's unclear whether Linux is really cut out for go...


Anyway, we decided to organise a penguin playoff between Linux and Chilly Willy and set up a jubango, that is, a ten game match.

Here they are playing the first game of the sogo. Chilly Willy was playing quickly and confidently, while Linux was in trouble both on the board and on time.


So Linux got crushed in the first game and he begged me to help him. I figured out a radical method which appealed to his primal instincts. I asked Chilly Willy if he was willing to accept a change in the match format and he agreed. Here is the start of the second game:














Yup, we substituted sushi for go stones, with the condition that Linux could eat his prisoners (ugh!), their number being recorded and taken into account at the end of the game. The format had to be changed to 9x9, since we couldn't afford 361 pieces of sushi, plus, everyone was worried that Linux would explode if he captured a really big group.

Chilly Willy looks quite eager to make his move. You will note that Linux should be playing black, since he had white in the first game, but he refused, because he only eats fish and was not motivated to capture California rolls. Since Linux was going to play white every game, he needed a komi. It doesn't appear in the picture, since he already ate it, per the rules of the match.


Amazingly, the sushi strategy seems to be working, becaus Linux has a fairly decent position.

We're thinking of writing a manga about the match, which we'll call "Sushi to Go."


Since his go debacle, Linux has been having some deep thoughts. You can hear them there.


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