Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tiny Boxen

Posted by michael on from the blink-and-you'll-miss-it dept.

swg101 writes "These people (openbrick.org) have developed a small computer designed for open source and free software. I quote: "This great little Linux box can be used as a firewall, micro-server, PABX, thin client, multimedia, almost anything imaginable. It contains a fanless 300 Mhz x86 compatible Geode processor and 128 MB SDRAM. Software can be installed on a Compact Flash or on an optional Hard Disk." Sounds like a nice solution for many applications."

2 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Dual NIC by mmca · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For firewall use, I would like to see dual NICs.
    They would make great IDS nodes.
    $300 bucks is a pretty good deal for a computer that small with that amount of proc power.

    -M

  2. And you call yourself a geek? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This "boxen" issue has come up before on ./ and I'm surprised the argument continues.
    1) Since the oh-so-consistent English language uses the term "oxen" as the plural of "ox", it sounds reasonable (and amusing) to use "boxen" for "box".
    2) Any hacker or geek with some sense of computing history knows that clusters of the late, great VAX systems from Digital Equipment Corp. (pre-Compaq) were known as VAXen.
    3) The English language has no ultimate authority comparable to the Royal Academy of the Language in Spain, or its equivalent in France. So making up words in English is quite easy, and legitimacy comes to them with wide usage. No need for the latest official dictionary to be published. ;-)