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Xbox Runs X, KDE, Gnome, StarOffice and Tuxracer
freax writes "Today in the the xbox-linux mailinglist:
I'm typing this into KMail using a USB keybaord (and a USB mouse) in front of the TV connected to the Xbox. ... and even StarOffice works quite fine. TuxRacer also runs (look at the new screenhots on the website), but only with one frame per second.
Check out screenshots here."
Wow, just like my PC's linux box.
So the question now is whether you can run the X-Box emulator on the result.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
I have an X-box, and NO games, just the DVD kit. (I entered the taco bell challenge 600 times!!) Now I can do something other than play DVD's on it!
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
Will linux on the xbox have good game support? ;-)
Does this mean someone will win get the $200,000 ?
I can spend $200 on a poor-quality, non-upgradable (and non-waranteed) Pentium III instead of building my own for about the same amount.
Now I can finally play TuxRacer at one FPS instead of all those crappy professionally made Xbox games!
Does anyone have some screenshots of the Xbox playing games with Wine running on X and Linux? Because if I can play PC games with Wine, X, and Linux on it (and a modchip of course), then I'll definitely get one.
I don't run any servers so I can't provide the bandwidth.
a PC!
[No wait! Zot!] NO CARRIER
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
This is fantastic, but the problem is the modchip, if Linux could be started without mod-chip. X-Box Linux will be a killer app!!!
Does the xbox have a video card with DRI support? That'd make the frame rate more reasonable...
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
Just kidding.
NexuSys - Linux support by the best
with or without DRI enabled?
Samba, FTP, POP, NNTP, Squid, NFS, Grid engine.
:)
Y'know, all those services that an ISP or similar might find handy in a *big* server farm.
Hey, how's about a Beowulf of those.
Deleted
All this without the Anal Leakage (TM) that is the Xbox gamepad.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
I'm typing this into KMail using a USB keybaord
Looks like it's a buggy USB keybaord.
Check out this picture.
"this is the beginning of microsoft's end."
Because everyone knows that Tux Racer is going to be the catalyst for change.
Oh, and GLTron.
This is the true beginning of a low cost, easy to use system. If the boot up totally doesn't destroy the system, for $200 you can get yourself a machine that:
This won't be perfection or anything as silly as that, but I'm curious to see where it goes. Great work to the team.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I'm typing this into KMail using a USB keybaord
:)
Looks like the xbox USB keybaord driver still has a few bugs in it...
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
Is there any real advantage to doing this (graphics maybe??) on an X-box as opposed to a real pc or is just something to do when youre bored?
or just a DVD boot into Linux?
can you read/write from the hard drive?
I've never understood what all the fuss is about with Linux on the X-Box. Apart from being a fun hack, is there any point to this?
But wait, I can run Linux on my toaster, Look I opened a telnet session to my blender, ftp'd to my refigerator and I can finger my microwave - I am working on getting TUX Racer to run at 0.5 FPS - I'll post screen shots as soon as I do.
Not to slightly contradict my previous statement about building your own PC for the same price, but I do see one use: a networked audio appliance. The combination of the ethernet and digital sound output would integrate well into a home-theater setup. Good remote control and on-screen displays would round out the setup nicely. It would be much cheaper than Sonic Blue's solution.
How do we know the screenshots aren't created with a PC connected to the TV? :)
Go loss leader! I didn't really need another PC, but if me buying an xbox to use as a PC costs Microsoft money, then I guess I can find some use for it.
What did they loose? A broadside?
There are significant between loose and lose
I know, I should just let it go, but I'm curious: What is so difficult about spelling "lose" properly?
The correct spelling even saves you one keystroke per occurrence.
Ah, well, back to work.
Writers imply. Readers infer.
Everytime someone buys one of these and put linux on it, it COSTS MS money...
Lets drive them out of the console market an hurt them so much they dont come back.
"Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far
Is that an Amiga monitor?
if we went and did that, now would it. Where's the fun in that?
Deleted
There are significant between loose [dictionary.com]
significant what? significance is maybe what you had intended to type? perhaps, you wanted to type "There are significant differences..". perhaps it was just a human mistake. regardless, what you intended to type, and what appeared on the slashdot posting were two entirely diferent things causing significant disruption in the overall karma of the slashdot world.
ah, well, back to browsing.
xbox linux is ILLEGAL software. The developers have broken microsofts encryption to run their own ILLEGAL unlicenced software. This is a violation of the DMCA, and you could be SUED.
Hehe... I've been to enough computer shows to know that a box (be it Mac/PC/X-Box) sat next to a TV/monitor showing an interesting demo is just not something you can believe!
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!
Check this out.
Some choice quotes:
Where was the idea to xbox-linux born?
To run unsiged code on the Xbox, wouldn't it be enough to write a boot loader, make someone with the SDK sign it and spread it on the internet?
Is your project illegal? Doesn't forbid the DMCA all this?
Finally I can start a web hosting business!
Thanks linux guy.
...you need capitalization ?
It is important to remember to capitalize certain words in your sentences, unless you aren't in America, in which case it is important to remember to capitalise certain words in your sentences.
What type of monitor is he using? Can you directly plug in any PC monitor into the back of an x-box or do you need an adapter? Will all usb keyboards/mice work?
Nice work so far. You all should be proud.
Dawn of the Dead
Dude, you need to take your camera back to whereever you bought it. There's some really fucking annoying penguin stuck to the lens that's being included in every shot.
I can't believe you haven't noticed it.
Invoicing, Time Tracking, Reporting
so it's the same as a normal pc with a geforce then
**boom boom**
for the love of pete! important to whom? does it make a difference to the reader of the /. post? does the point get across any less?
it's a video appliance too, you can have it decode mpeg2 and divx files, store them on your file server, and watch your divx movies from any tv in the house (provided you have RJ-45 jacks nearby). now that is the cool part.
ChopSuey
Then he would have enough money to buy a beowulf cluster consisting of 1001 of them (Including the own he currently owns ;-) )
This expensive cluster would probably run a modified version of Tux Racer at a decent number of FPS.
Is http://www.xbox.com/ hosted on a XboX running Linux with Wine + IIS ??? ;-)
I'd love to see that
"If you keep an open mind people will throw a lot of garbage in it."
How far are we from a Linux distribution for the Xbox that can be booted from CD? I think that would be great for a web server farm (or a home web server).
How good of a Linux PVR would this make?
I think this is more of a lesson to MSFT about what precautions you need to make for a DRM box to really work!
who's pete?
The power consumption and heat would kill your server farm. A typical 1U rackmount box takes 1/10th the power and generates 1/10th the heat as an XBox. Over the long haul (12 months) what you save in upfront cost you lose in electrical and cooling bills - nevermind the cost to lease more floor space for the larger XBox boxes.
I love him like a brother
God creates man... Man creates computer... Gates creates microsoft.... microsoft creates most sucessfull OS on the market... DOJ distroies microsoft... Linux inherits the earth.
It's even true on a Microsoft piece of hardware. How 'bout them apples Gates?
What the hell are you talking about? That sentence doesn't even make sense, it contradicts itself.
To all those people who think buying an Xbox and running Linux is good because it causes Microsoft to loose money, your better off not buying an Xbox. Microsoft has already taken a loss on those nice shiny new Xboxes that you see in the stores. By buying them you are helping Microsoft recoup $200. If you don't buy the Xbox then Microsoft is out an additional $200.
And if you want to keep Microsoft out of the console market your better off buying a Playstation 2 and some games. Building up Sony's market share is more likely to keep Microsoft from making an Xbox2 then Linux Xbox. Of course , Sony's business practices aren't much better then Microsoft, but that is going way off topic.
What we really need to get running on this is xmame. Nearly 3500 arcade games on your living room television set!
Now there's $200 worth of entertainment!
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
Microsoft Biznatches!!! Ahahahahahha oh the fucking humiliation. That stupid Monkey prancing around the stage is gonna be eating his shit. 'I love this company' my fuckin arse. hehehehe.
... we used to buy game machines to play games, not turn them into half-assed computers.
"Derp de derp."
...for Linux but big crash for Pd ;o) (I think MS is testing some basic components here - running signed code only, special BIOS etc. etc.)
He spelled capitalize the American way the first time, and the British way the second time.
I think that might be a more interesting feat.
lol, GO back TO GBS
P.S. Xbox is Huge
You know, people have been saying this since at least the Intellivision. Try #1 Try #2 (And something for the 2600 is niggling at my brain... there might have been something for that, too.)
After 20+ years of this line... I'll believe it when I see it. Not one second sooner. And with Microsoft fighting this tooth and nail... frankly, the Dreamcast had a much better shot here (what with most or all of them able to run custom CD-ROMs with no modifications to the unit), and it didn't happen either.
That's just rediculous!
no sig.
whoop-dee-freakin'-doo!
Why does this sig rock so hard?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It was free. And I only had to stab one stupid honky for it.
Oh look, it's Target's fashion designer!
--
Hwa!
I believe the post was written in Shakespearian English, which had no fixed spelling. Often lose and loose were used as a sort of double-meaning. See page xxxv of the introduction to The Everyman Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." Do you see how irritating off-topic references are?
You're an idiot. Pure and simple.
If you DO buy an X-Box even without buying any games you are still giving MS $200.
If you do NOT buy an X-Box, MS gets NOTHING from you. That costs them more than simply buying the X-Box and then not buying any games.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Check out screenshots here.
The monitor looks a lot like a Commodore 1902A. I think they're just faking us out with some Commodore-64 graphics!
Oi, just because it is a video doesn't mean that it can be believed. You can rent a James Bond movie at Blockbuster where it actually looks as if he can singehandedly save the world - without getting his tie out of place!
With a little bit of video editing experience I could put together a video showing you where I just put together some code and voila - there is a new OS on the screen of my PC!
However, all the cynicism aside - I doubt these guys would do that as it would be a fair bit of effort and they would be nailed fairly soon.
--
Employing incompetence: $35/h
Fixing the resulting mistakes: $1000's
Employing me: Priceless
The means is upon us at last to fairly compare the power of the two systems - the ultimate benchmark, Tux Racer!! Can the PS2 Linux system beat 1 FPS?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
at this rate, we'll only have to buy up a shade over 26 million of these puppies to eat up Microsoft's $4 billion cash reserve. The Empire is about to fall!
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
*MY* Xbox runs tux racer at 2 frames per second, because I was l33t and overclocked it.
Hah, all you suckers running Microsoft dictated specs! I laugh at you!
Can you imagine a beowulf clust...er...nevermind.
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
If you DON'T buy an X-Box it costs them $200, doesn't it? $200 > $150 moron.
People have said this in other forms, but no one's summed it up so far.
When it comes down to it, why do most people use Windows? Not because it's simple or Linux is complex - most computer users couldn't install or manage Windows configurations, so the added complexity of Linux wouldn't make much of a difference if the defaults (a la Mandrake) were any good. Not because it's more familiar (Start Panel, anyone?), or because it runs their productivity apps (most people can be set up with OpenOffice and not notice a difference).
People use Windows because it's got the games. As commentators have said time and time again, the computer industry is driven by gamers. No one buys a Pentium 4 2GHz computer with a GeForce 4 Ti because they want to run Office, eh? Geeks resort to dual-booting, Linux for most tasks and Windows for games, while most users simply use what works best - Windows for everything.
Now, with Xbox, there's an opportunity. Games, by their very nature, defy multitasking. When you're playing a game, you're not doing anything else, period, and you expect real-time performance from your computer. No file/print serving in the background, no preemptive multitasking meaning that your game is only running half as fast as it could. The computer should be doing nothing else but running a game. When you put a game into a console, it loads up that game, isn't running anything else in the background, and thus can (theoretically) give you better performance than any desktop with a full-blown OS can.
So, suppose you had an Xbox with Linux installed. A user decides they want to type a document, or surf the web; they boot up Linux, and can open Moz or OO. Then, they decide they want to use a game. They shut down Linux, put the game CD/DVD in the Xbox, and load it up.
Essentially, users have the benefits of a dual-boot situation without the downsides. Games are fully integrated, having every piece of software you need to run them built-in to the disc; the fact that it uses DirectX behind the scenes is irrelevant. And when you're not gaming, you load up Linux, which requires almost no configuration because it's for a standard PC configuration; the Xbox, in fact, may soon be the most ubiquitous PC configuration (plurality) anywhere.
Users are happy because they get a $200 computer that they can use equally well with a TV, HDTV, or computer monitor; and due to its compact nature, could easily be transported from room to room if need be. Microsoft is happy because people are buying Xboxes, which means they buy games; so MS still ends up making a profit, because most people who buy the Xbox are going to get at least one game (which puts MS almost at break-even).
Gee, so it's all the fault of the liberals...
:-) from the occasional rogue missile from unfriendly nation states. Bush laid out this plan far in advance of 9/11.
No, I said Bill Clinton specifically.
Funny how none of those commie European countries got attacked! (Let alone those soft Canadians, suspect Aussies like me and traitorous New Zealanders). By the standards of the rest of the world even Clinton was well and truly to the Right.
Probably because the Muslims already found a better way to conqueror you Europeans types. It's called outbreeding. While you're busy not having children and not working, the Muslims are busy immigrating in record numbers to take up the slack. In 500 years at current rates, Europe will be all Muslim. Something to think about.
There's one reason for September 11 and one only: US foreign policy in the Middle East. It's not about democracy, it's not about wealth. No other developed country has been attacked or looks likely to be.
There is no excuse for the slaughter of innocent civilans. Amazing that you can think differently.
Americans like you, with your head stuck several meters (sorry, feet; that's right, you can't even organise yourselves to use a standard weights and measures system) are the reason your nation has become so totally loathed worldwide. Simplistic spoilt brat, retard, militarist, military service dodger and ex-coke user Bush is a wet dream come true for people like you.
The Imperial system is actually standardized. There are set conversions from metric to imperial. Besides, it's only civilians here that use the imperial system; government, companies, and academia converted ages ago.
Also, let's see. American National Guard is part of our military. Clinton ran to Canada and later England, at least Bush did his tour. As to the rest, whatever. Prove it.
We're loathed because we're successful. Same with the Isrealis. What have you Austrailians done recently? Mick Dundee movies? Fosters?
Problem is that no matter how many troops Bush sends into the Middle East there'll be more September 11s to come as long as the US (a) continues to support corrupt puppet governments in the area (b) outrageously favours Israel (c) conducts foreign policy in the area with all the subtlety of a rhino that's just had its balls cut off.
So we're just supposed to let the Isrealis get slaughtered, like you pussy European types do. Fuck you. They have the right not to get blown up while eating lunch too you know.
What puppet state are we supporting in the region? The only one that even comes close is Saudi Arabia, and I'd dare say that they're next on the list.
3,000 people die as a result of box cutters. Response - ballistic missle defence. If it weren't so tragic I'd be laughing myself sick...
You're lack of insight makes me cry. The missile defense has nothing to do with fighting terrorists per se, but is a method of protecting North America (including those sissy Canadians
OMFG!!! It's funny 'cause Window$ suxs!!! HA HA HA!!!
Tell that to everyone who plays games.
Mine plays a fantastic game of Halo. My friends love to come in, grab some couch and a controller, and blow off some steam. It's called entertainment, and socialization, and fun. You know, fun? What you see everyone else having?
That contradicts your previous statement, you fucking dumbass. You said "Here in Europe", yet here you claim to be in the Czech republic?
No contradiction. Czechy is on the continent of Europe but is not part of the European Union.
Such a shame the psx2 is pants in comparison to the xbox eh?
Around the time the X-Box came out, didn't some bozo at MS say that if someone were to get LINUX to run on it, there would be a job waiting for them?
No, you're loathed for being egotistical and trying to run the rest of the planet in hypocritical fasion.
What has .au done recently? East Timor. Where the fuck was the rest of the world then?
The Imperial system is actually standardized. There are set conversions from metric to imperial. Besides, it's only civilians here that use the imperial system; government, companies, and academia converted ages ago.
Try visiting a decent country sometime where everyone uses the same measurement....
So we're just supposed to let the Isrealis get slaughtered, like you pussy European types do. Fuck you. They have the right not to get blown up while eating lunch too you know.
Well considering that you idiots put them there in the first place and completely destroyed the balance of power in that area....
Walmart sells $200 PCs now. These would make a better PC than an Xbox.
Religion is the main cause of atheism.
No, you're loathed for being egotistical and trying to run the rest of the planet in hypocritical fasion.
.au done recently? East Timor. Where the fuck was the rest of the world then?
Sigh. Whatever. Trying to run the world... yet not expanding our borders in how long now? 50 years? Try again.
And if hypocritical means having the guts to stand up for what you believe in, and doing what's right, then fine. We're hypocrites. Better that than a bunch of pussies.
What has
Busy doing other things, since it's irrelavant.
Try visiting a decent country sometime where everyone uses the same measurement....
And see what exactly? What was your point here? Did you even have one?
Well considering that you idiots put them there in the first place and completely destroyed the balance of power in that area....
First off, it was a UNITED NATIONS resolution. Yes, there was American pressure, but we didn't act alone there.
Second, what "balance" of power? You imply that the region was somehow stable, and that setting aside the Israeli state somehow tipped the scale....
The middle east never was, and never will be stable. The existance of Israel doesn't matter, they will still kill each other.
Yes, because the PS2-linux system supports accelerated 3D graphics. The XBox might too, in a while.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
The question, of course, being which evil empire you'd rather support less.
> The only harm you'd do is to the game companies
> trying to sell games. Not cool. Not cool at all.
No, screw em hard and screw em now. Any company that gets in bed with M$ gets screwed into the ground eventually. Best they get burned now while they still have other markets. They can take a hit to their stock price, what they can't take is allowing M$ to run Nintendo & Sony out and then be forced to assume the position, leaving M$ the only game company.
Democrat delenda est
Sorry, but as it is my understanding, we (America) stood by while the people we now call Israelies did what the Palestinians are doing now, so many years ago. The Israelies did worse, when they were the ones without a real country. If you want to find out about all this, TLC or Discovery ran a very well informed special on the subject.
First, only fixed costs decrease as volume increases. Since the xbox is basically a lower end pc (which is a mature and highly competitive market), I am willing to bet my Economic's degree that the majority of their costs are variable in nature (very easy MES point, not ideal for monopolies, low fixed costs).
Second, the unbought xbox verse hacked xbox losses to MS projection is correct in a per box analysis. However, total losses will be much higher from the hacked xbox due to the asymetric nature of information in these circumstances.
Third, these guys are "cool" (check out their music videos). At every point of the development of Linux, there was always someone there to complain that it just didn't make sense to port to this platform or write a clone of that application. After a decade of stubborness, the community has something to brag about, and humanity has a tool that does not discriminate based on the distribution of wealth.
In conclusion, there is no corporate front sacred from the scrutiny and manipulation from those possessing the ability to do so. Corporations are the creations of man and, therefore, must be constantly judged by man. If a corporation were to fall from grace in the eyes of individuals savvy enough and many enough, its fate would be sealed. In the end, I do not see hate as being their motivation, but their belief that what is good, will continue to survive. Their job is simply to hasten our journey to that conclusion.
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
Which gives me an idea. As long as Microsoft wants to continue to compete in the low end they mush make DRM truly optional. Their software is now the most expensive part of a computer. The hardware has been getting cheaper and cheaper and ther software is getting more expensive. Otherwise the cost of closed hardware will drive the demand for alternitives and drive MS into Apple territory. Afterall, if MS is able to fritz chip all pcs, what will be the difference between PCs and Apples. Not a whole lot.
You need at least 30 gigs for 6 hours.
With an 8 gig XBox drive you can tape just 1.5 hours.
Loose != Lose
Look it up!
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
My question (which I'm sure others have also raised), is why it is a good thing if Microsoft doesn't make an Xbox2?
I'm not attacking neverkevin.... I'm just curious as to what people are thinking. Making Microsoft lose money on the XBox will only cause them to shut down the XBox unit. It's not really going to hurt their Windows or Office units.
Isn't competition a good thing? Even though I have no wish to see Microsoft dominate the set-top-box market, their huge budget and presence forces all others to continue with innovation.
I enjoy seeing boxes hacked, like the Dreamcast. I also like seeing Linux being used in creative locations. But I wouldn't go as far as to say we should somehow drive a potential competitor out of a market.
(\(\
(^.^)
(")")
*beware the cute-bunny virus
> Isn't competition a good thing?
Yes.
> Even though I have no wish to see Microsoft dominate the set-top-box market, their huge budget and presence forces all others to continue with innovation.
But that is Microsoft's MO. Their huge budget and presence WILL be used to force all others out of the market.
Bad actors are bad actors. They need to be replaced by good actors, not appologized for. People have to realize that it is OK to "kill" a Microsoft for it's abysmal behavior. A fully capable replacement WILL pop up, and it WILL have learned better.
You worry too much, it won't happen. I'm not gonna buy a DRM enabled motherboard/cpu until I've found a hack for it on the net.
Probably because the Muslims already found a better way to conqueror you Europeans types. It's called outbreeding.
Holy crap. Did your Klan Khief tell you that?
Also, let's see. American National Guard is part of our military.
And don't those damn, dirty Kent State hippies know it?! Wonder how many Bush offed?
What have you Austrailians done recently? Mick Dundee movies? Fosters?
Hey, at least my country didn't make those Police Academy movies.
Sigh. Whatever. Trying to run the world... yet not expanding our borders in how long now? 50 years? Try again.
Try not being so naive. It turns out that military and/or economic pressure can be a pretty effective tool for making sure you get your way in any country no matter where the geographical borders lie.
Go ahead, call me a communist. It'll make you feel better. Better yet... call me a communist, slap a trade emargo on me, invade me, install and heavily arm a government that's more friendly to multinational investment, remove minimum wages (an unholy restriction on free trade) then replace the sustenance crops with cash crops for export (who needs to eat anyway?). Go on, it'll feel sooooooo good.
Some might even say it was ridiculous.
They use this type of monitor because it has a composite connection. This is the easiest way of connecting the Xbox to a monitor.
My Xbox is now an X box, because it runs X.
Xbox Media Player lets you watch streaming videos (divx,avi,mpg etc) and listen to mp3s store on your PC. Have been playing with it all week.
AND ITS FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
finally, someone with a sense of balance. Too bad most people filter out the truth.
It's sad but true. Sept11 has to be because of the US's extreme favoritism to Israel and the dictators of the middle-east(saudis, pakistan,taliban-pre 9/11). Don't hold your breath for CNN to run a special on it, just ask any Muslim, in any part of the globe.
yay to the american bashing!
It says something like 'runs with slight modifications'. *MEEEEP!*
Wrong answer.
200K still waiting for anyone who dares to go for it.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
While hacking the XBox to put Linux on it may hurt Microsoft, it isn't cheap enough or available to enough of the market that the Microsoft XBox targets to cause Microsoft concern.
However, it is still cool. Microsoft is a company that makes products. You may love the products, or you may hate the products. You may love the way that Microsoft practices business (i.e. you go to business school), or you may hate it (i.e. you sell competing software, and MS just stripped you of your market share with some product integration).
Anyway, the XBox is a cool product, and for a small fee, you can buy a hardware hack that voids your warranty (not like you care at this point) and lets you do more with the hardware. If that is running XBox Linux, then by all means, run XBox Linux. If that means running DivX and MP3 from your XBox, then that's cool. If you want to throw up a game of Quake 2 or something on your TV, all power to you.
However, as much as I think that XBox hacking is cool, please buy the software that you use on it. Pirating software sucks. Yeah, yeah, we all pirate software is no excuse to be stealing someone else's property, and if piracy becomes the number one reason to get a mod chip, then Microsoft will start suing mod chip manufacturers over DMCA laws and winning (all the mod chips do is defeat the encryption mechanism), and then you ruin it for everyone.
I personally love the ability to run my Farscape DivXs off the XBox rather than having to use my old PC with the TV Outs. It's far more convenient to just put in the DivX CDs into the tray than it is to go into the back room and setup the divx program and run around so I don't miss the first few seconds... All I need now is the ability to record the TV and encode it to DivX without my old PC... I guess I can wait for the Windows Media Center edition and buy another expensive hardware toy.
Ah well, that's what happens when you come out of college to find cash burning a hole in your pocket.
The coolest part of this post is where he says East Timor is irrelevant.
God, that is so fucking funny.
It is only relevant when Americans die, not when Americans are responsible for thousands of non-Americans dying.
That is so funny.
Especially since you can run linux on an X-box, or whatever the topic is.
There are significant between loose [dictionary.com] and lose [dictionary.com]
Good job.
They're's a big differance betwixt "There are significant between" and "There are significant differences between"
Thanks for pointing that out. You are making the world a better place.
Ah,well,backtowork.
I see a lot of people justifying the worth of this port. Some people say it's "sticking it to Microsoft". Others say it creates well needed negative publicity for DRM. But I'm not seeing a lot of people talking about the obvious benefit: MORE VALUE FOR THE CONSUMER!
Imagine a CD from AOL with Mozilla on it. The only instructions required are "Insert this disc into your X-Box". The CD connects to AOL automatically. You enter a unique code (perhaps printed on the CD sleeve) and the login process is completed. In under a minute you're sending and receiving email and browsing the web. Text entry could be via an on-screen "virtual keyboard" or a USB keyboard with an appropriate dongle.
Don't like the ISP idea? How about a Logitech USB keyboard bundled with a complete office suite on an X-Box disc. Automatic bootstrap straight into OpenOffice. Files are saved to the conveniently included hard disk. Logitech can bundle appropriate dongles to connect their USB keyboard and a USB printer to the Microsoft-USB ports. Home users who can't afford (or don't want) a PC can still reap the benefits of a word processor at home.
This is a huge opportunity for companies to to reach a wider audience. Linux is irrelevant. What is relevant is APPLICATIONS and a closed well-defined system that can run them. If you only think of an X-Box as a games console then you're not going to be convinced. If you think of it as a cheap computer with a hard disk and broadband connection that millions of people have in their homes, then you'll understand that Linux/X-Box really is important.
>No, I said Bill Clinton specifically.
If you take a quick look at some economic statistics, you will see that your beloved country was gaining funds at a high rate during the mandate of this man, and now you are being robbed again. Isn't it wonderful to see all those billions of your hard earned national funds (you paid for it) being baked into exquisite deadly machinery and blown to pieces with a bunch of peasants on the other side of the world.
>Probably because the Muslims already found a
>better way to conqueror you Europeans types.
>In 500 years at current rates, Europe will be
>all Muslim. Something to think about.
I see, your particular interrests in the conflict seem to be getting rid of people who don't think like you. That's a subject of admiration, let's all give the righteous and true americans a jolly applause.
>There is no excuse for the slaughter of innocent
>civilans.
The problem with this sentence is the bush-crypto. Decrypted version: "There is no excuse for the slaughter of american civilians, any other is fine, our media will filter it out for some sweet green paper."
>We're loathed because we're successful. Same with
>the Isrealis.
Actually, I feel sorry for you guys, having to maintain that superficial and bogus national character all your lives. Not to forget, Americans are the English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish people that the European colonisation fleets left there few hundred years ago. Your country has no history but the indians, and their blood is also on your hands. The lack of heritage is probably why you seem so oblivious to the extreme inhumane nature of your country's moves internationally. I hope you wake up with a smile on your face every morning, satisfied in knowing that your dollars are being employed exactly for what you chose in the election, spilling blood and oppressing.
>What puppet state are we supporting in the
>region? The only one that even comes close is
>Saudi Arabia, and I'd dare say that they're
>next on the list.
Oh dear, I believe we've met Mr.Indoctrinated himself.
Your country wanted the russians out of Afghanistan, so you raised a terrorist army.
This terrorist army had friends which were oppressed by other hypocrite moves made by your country, for instance the palestinians and the iraqi.
Some of them decided to give your country some of it's own medicine, by means of a cowardly act (which your country has made countless).
This cowardly act killed but a few thousands of your country's people, and yet, to you it seems as if it's the first time someone got killed.
Man, your media holds you by the spinal cord. You are helping them every day.
Your media is owned by the very rich. The very rich protect the interrests of the very rich.
Every time I hear an American speak on the subject, he sounds almost psychotic in again and again trying to assure to himself that patriotism is the answer. Is patriotism the solution? What is patriotism going to do to a conflict? It doesn't take a genious to answer this, but to get an honest answer, maybe it takes a non-patriot.
>The missile defense has nothing to do with
>fighting terrorists per se, but is a method of
>protecting North America from the occasional
>rogue missile from unfriendly nation states.
And again, don't you ever wonder why these states have become unfriendly? Do you really think they hate your country for no reason?
If the U.S. government would for once be unselfish, let a few oil, locational and religion-related strongholds go, declare neutrality and conformance with the U.N. policy, and withdraw to a normal international discussion, they could resolve this whole conflict within months. Better yet, as your government swear by the grace of god, in god we trust and so on, you could even call it a great act of christian compassion. Turn the other cheek aside, remember?
Anyway, the decadence of the american people's spirit is the main problem in my opinion.
Listen to Eminem, that guy puts it in clear text sometimes.
icq: 4333444 aim: dagga2oxx
... but I think that people buy game consoles to have fun. If some people are having a lot of fun by fiddling around with the Xbox doing anything, loading Linux on it inclusive, I think that thats good. I'm not so sure this is hurting M$ very much, it seems to me that this is bringing it additional publicity, not to mention the number of linux-geeks who will be buying Xboxes to try it out! just a thought
You finance MS but that means you cost them cash.
Lets see, situation 1, you buy a Xbox,
MS invests around 350 in each Xbox: -350
You buy an Xbox: +200
Total for MS: -150 (plus the potential to recoup money via games, because you will buy games once the box is gathering dust there).
Situation 2, you don't buy a Xbox,
MS invests around 350US$ in each Xbox: -350
Total for MS: -350. Full stop, you will not buy games even if you were tempted to.
Now tell me, what costs MS more?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I have to deal with MS software and servers all day long and they suck. However while i do not like what MS intentions with xbox are(ie dominate yet a another market) i do think the xbox is a fantastic little box. If you are running linux on it just to say you can do it great. But dont think that it is hurting them, your are doing for more to help MS then Bill could ever hope to buy. Free publicity! The best way to fight MS is to deny them existance. How many of these are going to get converted world wide a few hundred maby a 1000 tops. Bill spends that kinda of money on breakfest. Stop kidding your self people you are helpping him not hurtung him.
Linux modi 2.6.26-2-parisc
Xbox definitely has the advantage over the PS2 for running linux, as Xbox is nothing more than a stripped down pc. It is good for those people that tied up a lot of money in the Xbox, now they have more use for it. Although linux runs on the PS2, it's not going to be the primary reason people buy a PS2 because many linux programs require more porting to work on the non-intel PS2 system- more people will continue to buy the PS2 because that is where the most/best games are. Linux is great, I use it exclusively but when it comes to games, nothing beats the PS2.
>>>please remove "nospam" from email address
I see, your particular interrests in the conflict seem to be getting rid of people who don't think like you. That's a subject of admiration, let's all give the righteous and true americans a jolly applause.
No. I think his particular interest in the conflict is getting rid of the people that want to kill innocent American civilians.....you smug fuck.
Actually, I feel sorry for you guys, having to maintain that superficial and bogus national character all your lives. Not to forget, Americans are the English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish people that the European colonisation fleets left there few hundred years ago.
And after being left here a few hundred years ago, we turned around and bitch-slapped the British and declared that we would be on our own...then we had to jump in and cover your weak asses during WWII because you were about to be overrun. It's our world now, punk.
Your country has no history but the indians, and their blood is also on your hands. The lack of heritage is probably why you seem so oblivious to the extreme inhumane nature of your country's moves internationally.
WTF?!?!? America's displacement of the native savages for the purpose of developing history's greatest superpower is somehow worse than the British history of conquering foreign territories and forcing them to serve a fucking king?? Your crappy feudal system is somehow a history to be proud of? Don't even get me started on what you fuckers have done to the Irish.....and we've all seen Braveheart. And in the end, America is your daddy.
Your media is owned by the very rich. The very rich protect the interrests of the very rich.
What's your point? Oh....I see. Lemme get this straight. Since a large global media organization operating in the world's largest superpower is (obviously) owned by the rich, then those wealthy owners are micromanaging the producers and instructing them on the content to be broadcast by said media company. Go rent JFK and jack off in your mother's basement you retard. Intrinsic hate and mistrust of the wealthy may rile the masses in your crappy socialist region of the world, but over here people usually get rich because they work hard not because they were born into some arbitrarily higher class of society.
Do you really think they hate your country for no reason?
No, I think they hate my country for invalid reasons.....because they're a bunch of ignorant rock-chunking sand niggers that used to have global influence in the middle ages when their made up religion was cool and now they're just middle eastern trash who can't deal with the fact that they've been reduced to an insignificant culture with little or nothing to contribute to the world except suicide bombers expecting a heavenly piece of ass.
If the U.S. government would for once be unselfish, let a few oil, locational and religion-related strongholds go, declare neutrality and conformance with the U.N. policy, and withdraw to a normal international discussion, they could resolve this whole conflict within months.
Fuck the U.N. We don't need their permission or anybody else's to run this world the way we see fit. If you think you can do better, create your own superpower.
Maybe I am missing something, but why would I want to use a Xbox running linux? True, the hardware is very cheap, but: on the one hand there are no good linux games I would want to play on the linux-Xbox. On the other hand the hardware isn't fit to be used as a cheap replacement for e.g. a router or a workstation for development or office applications. I dont see the point.
Some might say you didn't get the joke.
Whoooa, huh, huh,
he said "sand niggers"
If you think you can do better, create your own superpower.
We're on the case.
Fuck the U.N. We don't need their permission or anybody else's to run this world the way we see fit. If you think you can do better, create your own superpower.
Interesting, maybe this is what this Bin Laden character
had in mind.
Competition is a great thing. It is what encourages capitalist companies to improve their products. Without competition the only motivation left is for them to improve their profit. Since Microsoft have clearly shown that they are not interested in beating their competition with a better product instead resorting to underhand monopolistic practices, lawsuits and atempting to buzzword their way into the next generation (.NET), I have no interest in seeing competition from them anymore. The sooner they get the fuck out of the market the better.
as my bedroom tv. And of course whenever i wanna play some c=64er games...
> When you're playing a game, you're not doing anything else, period, and you expect real-time performance from your computer.
:-) since it is adjacent to my consoles.
For most games & gamers, yes, I would agree - the game IS the computer.
However I can provide a few examples where that's not 100% correct.
When I was playing UO, I always had UO Assist, ICQ, and UO Map running. Other guilds (usually PK ones) ran IRC in the background. Why? Because the game didn't provide the proper tools to automate a lot of tedious activity / communication.
In D2X, I usually alt-tab out to RuneWizard (to check rune words), to diabloii.net (to check stats on items), to ChippyDips skill calc, and/or to my spreadsheet template of my character's stats/skills.
Another example: Playing a (single player) rpg/shooter, and I'm stuck for the past 30 mins. I tried everything I can think of, but it hasn't helped. Alt-Tab out to google or gamefaqs and hit the walkthru to get a hint. I know it would of been a huge PITA to quit the game, load the browser, check the info, then restart the game.
Granted, I'm a power-gamer, but I can't be the only one, who finds it extremely frustrated when I can't alt-tab out of a game on my computer.
Now for a console, there is no need to switch to another app in the middle of game, since you can't anyways. However, that doesn't mean you don't want access to other info when you are playing the game! What I do instead is use my main computer to load up the FAQs
i.e. I want to try out some of the interesting cheat codes in GTA3. Pause the game, look at the computer beside me, then go back to the game.
My $0.03
Cheers
What is worse? A monopoly on closed source OS, or the extinction of the pc? If Sony and Disney get it the way they want, the PC dies and a DRM Microsoft machine replaces it. Microsoft would be more than happy to just sell Office and WinXX with a subscription model giving them say $150 a year for 95% of all desktop PCs. They would NEVER have pusshed for DRM if they didn't think it would be mandated by law. Now they are just making sure they still sell 95% of all OS's (the fact that they now will sell 100% doesn't hurt, but that cannot be why MS is doing this).
Still off topic, but Sony ain't better at all.
- Ost
---- Sig. gone.
I just want to say one thing, all of you euro-peons out there, just remember that when one of these ass-backwards middle eastern countries get the bomb, its going to be a hell of a lot more easier for them to point it at Europe than at the US. Are you comfortable with iraq having an a-bomb if you live in eastern-Europe? They are not going to have the missles to deliver it to the US, but they will be able to shoot it over to Europe within a few years.
Ah yes...neutrality, that worked great for France in WWII.
I hope that we find a replacement for oil soon, then the middle-east can wither itself back into the middle ages, and leave us the fuck alone. or lets go pull our troops back, and the Koreas' can start fighting again, innocent people in Bosnia can be slaughtered again, and hell can breakout in all the other places where our troops are. lets just build a big fucking wall around the US, and the rest of the world can fend for themselves. and when the next hitler comes rolling through europe, good luck this time!
- a proud american
SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH THE MICROSOFT-LOSES-MONEY-THING! IT IS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!
I fucking type in caps if I want to, you lame filter. I fucking type in caps if I want to, you lame filter.
To clear up a few things for people.
The xbox can be connected to a VGA monitor with an adapter.
The Modchip bios replacements are now so easy that even an idiot can install them. Basically its place the module over the lpc bus , heat up some points with a soldering iron. Then attach one wire. Takes all of 10 minutes.
You can replace the xbox hard drive with another drive. I use a 40GB drive in mine.
Xbox linux has the ability to read and write FatX just fine.
Once chipped it has full network capability. You can assign it an ip, ftp to it, telnet, etc.
It allows copying of your purchased games to the xbox hard drive for playing. Enabling you to put 20 games on the drive and never have to load up the original. No more disc swapping between games . Go to your friends house and just take the box, no dvd's need be carried.
Linux on xbox is progressing nicely. Give us all time to figure out the format of the xbox hardware.
Emulators are around such as Xmame, Xsnes, etc which contain all the roms on one disc with the emulator, so its boot and play.
There are also media players which allows playing of divx, vcd, avi, mpg, mp3, dvd. Either from the drive or the xbox hard drive, and yes even over the network.
Xbox infared interface has been cracked so remote control function is now useable and reprogrammable to whatever you want to use it for.
People are starting to work on an open source xbox sdk for home brew game design. I personally would love to write my own xbox titles that run under linux or the xbox itself.
I really can't see anyone not wanting one with all of these features and more to come.
Thank goodness someone else finally noticed. The misuse of the word "loose" on Slashdot and elsewhere on the internet really bugs the holy hell out of me. I would have sworn that I was the last english-speaking person on the planet that knew the difference and that the next edition of the OED would cave in and rewrite the definition.
Maybe I just need to spend less time reading Slashdot.
It may seem strange to buy a "PC" from Microsoft to run Linux, but let's look at it a little closer.
Microsoft LOSES money with each XBox sold. They hope to recoup that money by selling licenses to the game manufacturers. So, if say a few million XBoxes were to be sold without any game purchases it'll go straight to MS's bottom line. (So maybe it's not as ironic as it might seem.)
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
...what happens when better integration prevents you from being able to "chip" a machine?
Anyone out there know how much it would cost to put the important parts of a PC onto one chip using modern manufacturing techniques? This would mean anything significant to DRM (cpu, audio, and graphics) would need to be in one package soldered to the circuit board. I suppose it would have to include encrypted IDE and memory busses, too. If this can be done within the price ranges typcial for a PC, it will be done, and we really need to worry about it.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
You don't run my "ass", ignorant piece of shit...
Wow, what aggression, I guess I was right because it seems that hurt.
icq: 4333444 aim: dagga2oxx
>- a proud american
Cool, a proud anonymous american.
I see no reason for Iraq to do anything against any European state. I am not comfortable with anyone having a bomb, especially not the nasty mass destruction bombs. The problems can only increase with bombs. I don't believe that Iraq will launch any missile unless they are attacked. I can see Mr. Bush attack them well this fall though, as the congress election is coming up and about everything but the crushing of limbs and expensive equipment is diving over there.
Face it, your country gained it's position with oil and wants to prevent the discovery of a replacement at any cost.
Europe was not united when world war 2 occured. Germany was the strongest military power in Europe at that time. European countries have a tradition of not budgeting so much weapons, in favour of things that their people gain from, but the european union has more people and greater monetary reserves than the U.S.
icq: 4333444 aim: dagga2oxx
You euros have been loging for the days of good old Rome for over 1500 years. Many have tried to strip away your nation identities through war, now the mega rich are trying to do it through trade but the result will be the same. Your like a buck of emotionally stunted adults longing for to be kids again, get over it and grow up.
If you all want to surrender yourselves to an authority so you can compete with us, good luck to ya'. Youll learn the hard way... again..
Why is this modded down? This is a great post. Although it could be Offtopic, it at least warrants a (Score: 1 Offtopic).
wtf "dittohead"?!? At least learn some better insults.
G.H.W. Bush left Saddam in power, and also left 6,000 troops in Saudi Arabia (which is one of the main reasons Osama declared war on the US, according to him), and it's ALL CLINTON'S FAULT!!
Clinton could've taken out Bin Ladin but he didn't because he's one of you pussy, non-violence, draft dodging, downsize the military, demagogues. So as a result of inaction, Clinton fucked up far worse than Bush Sr. who, by taking the (albeit questionable) action of kicking Iraq's ass and leaving troops in Saudi to watch Saddam, supposedly provoked a regional tyrant who would've used any possible excuse to attack America anyway. The reason Bush Sr. didn't take out Saddam is because all of you whiny liberal pussies were complaining about that war the entire time....killing Saddam would've inflamed the situation even further. Now, Bush wants to attack again and all of the democrats have jumped on the bandwagon and are fully behind him.
If the Democrats and Clinton/Gore are so terrible, why did more people vote for Gore than for Bush? If everything was as plain and obvious as you say, why did over 51 million Americans not feel that GWB was the best choice?
What revisionist history book are you reading from? Bush got more votes than Gore. Once again, your demagogues got you all excited with lawsuits at the time, but well after the election issue was settled and when they had all the time in the world for excessive recounts, the liberals in Miami tucked their tails between their legs and admitted that Bush had more votes. You're one of those idiots that was confused by the ballot aren't you?
Things aren't black and white, bucko. Most politicians are corrupt one way or another, your boy George (pun intended) is no different. If the things that happened during Enron and the other scandals happened under Clinton, you and all your dittohead buddies would be screaming bloody fucking murder. But since it was your boy, it's your turn to say, "There's no evidence, and if the courts don't find anything Bush is innocent, and we shouldn't have a Senate investigation, that will just waste tax payer money divide the country." Sound familiar?
No, it doesn't sound familiar. Should it? Did Bush get a blowjob from Enron and then later lie about it? Did he continue to lie his sleazy draft-dodging ass off about it untill millions of dollars were spent on an investigation that finally forced him to fess up because he was cornered and had his cum stain on Enron's dress?
Look, I'm not arguing that Bush is Mother Theresa and Clinton is Satan....I'm just saying that you liberal droids need to open your eyes and develop a sense of shame. Your guy was an embarassment. His inaction (not taking out Bin Ladin) and his action (Lewinsky) have proven that he's an all around fuckup and all you can do is talk shit about others or point to better economic times during his tenure...and then there's all the shit he pulled as he left office(lootng the whitehouse, pardoning whoever) So what if Bush snorted powder? I also am the first one to say 'so what?' about Clinton smoking weed. Those are minor pecadillos inflated by a bullshit war on drugs mentality. The fact is that despite.....fuck it, I'm rambling now.
I will not have anything that microsoft makes/produces/blesses in my house. Its just
wrong.
Now the funny thing is NVIDIA is being investigated becuase it wrote down 7 million
worth of useless graphics xbox chips just because
MS changed their security roms.
Wouldn't it be funny if MS DUMPED their BOX.
XBOX going cheap......can you say SEGA....
K.
I don't know where you're from, but here, men jumping on men sounds pretty fucking gay.
Except the US is in the right and Bin Laden is a "rock-chunking sand nigger"
God that phrase is so cool.
Well he is gay, which is why it makes perfect sense to him. Haven't you seen his self-portrait that he loves to link to?
You draw some weird conclusions, I give you that. Are you suggesting that nations age the way humans do, in the end reaching some geriatric stage? That is bizarre to say the least. It seems you also believe that the union is an authority completely separate from the countries it is made up of, from space or what?
Europe has become very stable, and I am very very sure that there will be no wars within its borders again.
icq: 4333444 aim: dagga2oxx
are you as sure as the men who called WWI the war to end all wars??
icq: 4333444 aim: dagga2oxx
Wars usually break out when you least expect. I am not hoping for a war, but all it takes is one nutjob with a gun..
Don't try to tell me you don't know what a 'dittohead' is, since I'm sure you spend plenty of time listening to Rush.
Apparently you spend plenty of time listening to Rush. I knew that 'dittohead' was some played out Rush thing from a while back....so I was suggesting you up the level of wit a little. But if you like Rush that much, then okay. But, you know, not everybody listens to popular political shows....some of us actually think independently and reason independently of others, forming our own conclusions. Apparently you're still a follower. Yeah, I've listened to Rush....when I was in high school.
Don't get me wrong. Keep listening to Rush...you might grow from the experience.
Please tell me where in my post I advocated non-violence or downsizing the military? Gee, you're not being presumptuous, are you? I'm pro-gun ownership, pro-strong military (we should be paying our military personnel much better than we are), pro-tax reduction. I'm also pro-marijuana decriminalization, pro-gay rights (including marriage) and pro-choice. Hmm, seems I'm really all about promoting FREEDOM AND LIBERTY, aren't I? Pretty tough to stick me in a box and slap a label on it.
Ooooooooh. You're so different and unique!....can I touch you? I can see how you would be boisterous of the fact that you can't be easily labelled, many inexperienced thinkers come to similar conclusions. If you're hung up on labels, though, you're not that unique. Your positions put you in the left Libertarian category.
As far as my reference to 'non-violence, draft dodging, and downsizing the military' is concerned, I was actually referring more to Clinton than to you personally. The usage of 'you' was more general, but I was willing to throw you into the mix since you saw fit to come to Clinton's defense. But if that's too subtle for you then I'm sorry for confusing you.
Oh, and your use of the word 'demagogue' pretty much ices the fact that you're a dittohead, especially since you use it incorrectly, like Rush usually does. I suggest you look it up, webster.com is your friend.
Once again -- betweent the two of us, you seem to be the great Rush fan. Keep taking your lead from popular speakers. As for the use of the word 'demagogue' to refer to Clinton, consider that Slick Wille was able to win over all of the fucking liberals in the country after the embarrasing shit he pulled. And black people seem to thing he's actually black. Bullshitting the common man is a definite characteristic of demagoguery. The word 'sophist' would've been more accurate (especially after his infamous debating of the meaning of the word 'is'), but I thought that might be too obscure of a word for someone who throws around the word 'dittohead'. Apparently I was right, since you couldn't catch the sense in which I used 'demagogue'.
Uhh, you wanna come forth with your 'source'? Here's mine:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/results/
That was a waste of research on your part. I was referring to the fact that Bush won Florida; Bush got the most votes in the disputed parts of Florida. But if you want to revel in the fact that Gore won the popular vote, then I should instruct you that in the US we use something called the 'electoral college' which, for reasons that may be too sophisticated for someone like you to comprehend in this brief reference, is actually the best democratic model for electing the president. But if you want to jump on the Hillary bandwagon and go on about eliminating the electoral college, go right ahead.
d00d
Cute.
well, I'm a muslim and I was born in pakistan, who has lived in the US for 19 years. if you ask me, 9/11 was the result of an anti-progress fucktard as backwards as any abortion clinic bomber.
but that doesn't fit your relativist worldview, does it. please don't paint all muslims as sub-moronic, religiously brainwashed idiots.
Recommending the X-box means recommending the hardware standard known as the Xbox console. All of the other issues are defeated by using Linux.
The only way to pervert that standard is by surrepetitiously replacing the hardware. Assuming that cheaper hardware is inferior hardware, they cannot do this without sacrificing compatibility to the existing Xbox standards. If they replace some hardware with superior performing hardware, then it can only be considered an upgrade once Linux supports it.
While the Xbox may be proprietary, it doesn't seem to be proprietary as Sony's offering, so they probably can't get away with a Freedom binding "Linux kit". Note that Sony is probably more "evil" than microsoft to date, from their computer practices (read "proprietary" vaio) to their media practices (MPAA, RIAA, etc).
So even if the X-Box should be avoided because of Microsoft, then the current best competition Sony should be avoided all the more for more global reasons.
-castlan, moderating.