When I started Hacking The Hike, it was a place to document gear, trails, and the chaos of hiking with five kids. It was personal, practical, and full of pine needles. But over time, the blog evolved — because I did.
When Scrolling Breaks and Zooms
My ThinkBook 16 has been the center of much consternation the latest few months. If the other problems weren’t enough, I have one more to add. This is when scrolling turns into zooming.
Fedora 43 — When Bleeding Edge Might Be the Only Stable Option
After Ubuntu blinded me and Kubuntu froze on me, I found myself staring at the one trail I usually avoid: Fedora./
openSUSE Tumbleweed: The Distro I Keep Coming Back To
Every so often, I get the itch to hop distros again. Not because I’m unhappy with what I’m running — I’ve got a setup that mostly works — but because I like checking in on the distros that almost make sense for my daily workflow (and I may be procrastinating over projects). openSUSE Tumbleweed is one of those. I don’t run it full‑time, but I always enjoy dropping into it for a week or two. It’s like visiting a friend who has their life way more together than you do, even if you wouldn’t want to live exactly like they do.
Here’s what keeps pulling me back.
Kubuntu 25.10 — The False Hope
After Ubuntu 25.10 blinded me one too many times, I pivoted to the obvious next step: Kubuntu. Same Ubuntu base, same kernel, but with KDE Plasma — the desktop environment that gives you knobs, dials, sliders, toggles, and enough configuration options to make a mechanical keyboard enthusiast blush.
When “It Just Works” Didn’t
After meeting the two villains of this saga — the Flashbang Bug and the Big Freeze — I started my distro testing with the obvious choice: Ubuntu.
Linux vs My ThinkBook: A Survival Story
The promise of Linux on modern hardware is often painted as a revolutionary act of freedom. But as I found out with my Lenovo ThinkBook and a Ryzen 7530U processor, sometimes that revolution feels more like a war of attrition.
The Hiker’s OS Kit: My Personal Linux Distro Lineup
When people ask me what the “best” Linux distro is, I usually smile and shake my head. That question is a little like asking, “What’s the best trail?” The answer depends entirely on who’s hiking, what gear they’re carrying, and where they want to go. A steep mountain path might be perfect for one person and a nightmare for another. Linux is the same way: the distro that feels like home to me might feel like a maze to you.