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Xbox Linux Made Possible Without a Modchip

An anonymous reader writes "Free-X have released an exploit for the Xbox that will let you get Linux on the machine without any hardware mods at all... Microsoft is already threatening them with legal action. Here's the Free-X statement. Free-X say they had been trying to contact MS for a month but were ignored, which is why they've released the exploit. Should be interesting to watch this one."

47 of 996 comments (clear)

  1. Watch out for the secret weapon. by Roosey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Trust me, these guys will go down for the count if Microsoft hires a female lawyer.

    1. Re:Watch out for the secret weapon. by sc00p18 · · Score: 2, Funny

      that may be tough, I don't know many women who would work for this guy.

  2. Why don't they fix the exploit? by hashish · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ohh, wait, no-body applies security patches to game boxes, what was I thinking :)

  3. Mr. Bush Announces .... by Snoopy77 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "From now on today will be known as XBox Independence Day!"

    --
    "She's a West Texas girl, just like me" - G.W Bush Iraqis
  4. What the.. ? by rampant+mac · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the article:

    Dear Public,

    Today is a very said day for Microsoft.

    Especially if you're using their spelling / grammar software.

    --
    I like big butts and I cannot lie.
    1. Re:What the.. ? by donutello · · Score: 3, Funny

      Give them a break. They're Australians. It's not like English is a first language fo... oh, damn.

      --
      Mmmm.. Donuts
    2. Re:What the.. ? by Michael+Hunt · · Score: 3, Funny

      English, not American, is the first language of Australians ;)

      These guys seem european, however, as there's no references to shrimps on barbies, or Fosters.

  5. I think this will make Xboxen much more popular. by mikeophile · · Score: 3, Funny
    At least until the new patched models are released.

    Microsoft shouldn't fight this too much. More Xbox loss leader sales will mean more game title sales, even if (or because of) piracy increases.

    Who am I kidding? Bend over Bill, here comes the Penguin!

  6. isn't this already possible? by shird · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't this possible already using exploitable games such as 007? Basically he is just running arbitrary code by exploiting a default application (the dashboard) instead of a '3rd party' application (007).

    I suppose the main difference may be that it happens on 'boot' rather than in the middle of a game - this may be related to the 'reboot on eject' 'feature' he talks about, but I'm not sure. Anyone care to explain further?

    --
    I.O.U One Sig.
  7. Re:Full text of article in case of /. effect by jeffkjo1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's definitely a big risk of zdnet going down, as it's hosted by a 14 year old with a 333 running Apache in console mode (Win98sr2) on a dsl connection and all...

  8. crap! by mschoolbus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Really sucked reading this article as I was finishing up installing a mod-chip into my friend's XBOX with him...

  9. Re:Increasing weirdness by Eyston · · Score: 2, Funny

    This just seems to me to be a cheap attempt to chisel money and personal advantage under the cover of pretending to be doing it for the benefit of Xbox Linux.

    Yah, releasing it free on the internet is indeed a very cheap attempt to get money.

    -Eyston

  10. Its now linuXBox !! by supersam · · Score: 4, Funny

    MS: Damn it! Doesn't Free-X know we made XBox so that people could play games on it.

    Free-X: Err... yes we did just that. We played on it a bit and voila!... its now linuXBox!! *grin*

    MS: @#!**@###***

    1. Re:Its now linuXBox !! by burns210 · · Score: 3, Funny

      "its now linuXBox!! *grin*"

      ahem. that is GNU/linuxXBox, please. :)

  11. Base 64 encoding by Stonent1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Since it is on the website, google will probably cache it meaning it will not be lost. :) And even if MS orders to take their site down, google will still have it.

  12. Please stop trying to use common sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the law were talking about here. There is no room for such concepts..

  13. Re:Blackmail by BurritoWarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like how the Free-X (box) team thinks. Let me try this out:

    I am requesting that my post be moderated up to +5 or I will release pictures of Slashdot moderators in compromising positions with various farm animals.

    Please note this is just a request, not a demand.

  14. Re:Woops, too late? This is what MS wants.... by jkrise · · Score: 2, Funny

    Getting Linux on the XBox without modifications, could very well be an MS effort to compete with HP IBM and possibly even Dell, on the desktop hardware platform. So far, they've made only unwieldly mice, broken keyboards and complicated home WiFi gear in hardware.

    The XBox so closely resembles the PC architecture, it could be an MS attempt to make BIOS, motherboard and PC makers superfluous. MS would package the XBox for $100 and offer Linux on a desktop PC! All this subterfuge and publishing hacks is just a way to generate some mometum behind the development of their proprietary piece of junk into a viable desktop platform.

    Too late, yes... the industry has moved along, users and partners have become smarter to MS tricks, and the game is up. Sorry MS.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
  15. Re:Blackmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It would only be fair if you blur out the faces of the farm animals. Consider the embarassment they might suffer.

  16. Lindows on Xbox by HanzoSan · · Score: 5, Funny



    In a few days Michael Robertson will announce Lindows Xbox Edition.

    New features? The ability to completely hiijack a competitors hardware technology.

    --
    If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
  17. Re:Blackmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, like you have anything that hasn't already been posted to alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.slashdot.barnyard

  18. Re:Woops, too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Learning is not "illigal"?
    Perhaps you should exercise your "rite", then.

  19. Dude, they're in AUSTRIA ..Where the hell is that? by Viewsonic · · Score: 5, Funny

    And that's exactly what the Microsoft chimps are thinking right now. How the hell are they going to be able to sue someone if they dont even know where the hell it is? I mean, come on, who REALLY knows where Austria is that hasn't been there already? (Looks around) My point exactly. Hell, half the posters on here think its AUSTRAILIA.

  20. Re:After reading the articles... by rking · · Score: 3, Funny

    Having help doesn't make you look guilty, it makes you look prepared and intellegent. The way these guys handled their communications (spelling errors and all) makes them look like out of control destructive teenagers.

    I would have been interested in your opinion, but your spelling error made you sound like an out of control and destructive teenager. Okay, maybe one error means you could be in your twenties, posibly with some slight degree of control, but the destructive tendencies are undeniable. Could you submit a longer writing sample for analysis?

  21. Re:After reading the articles... by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 2, Funny

    Who cares about the DMCA. Most of the six billion world population lives outside the USA.

    They don't have computers. They're all pagan filth and terrorists.

    --
    Like what I said? You might like my music
  22. Re:Blackmail by WanChan · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...well, it's at +4 now, so somebody has something to hide :)

  23. Re:After reading the articles... by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't pass this one up. Emphasis mine.

    I would have been interested in your opinion, but your spelling error made you sound like an out of control and destructive teenager. Okay, maybe one error means you could be in your twenties, posibly with some slight degree of control, but the destructive tendencies are undeniable. Could you submit a longer writing sample for analysis?

    Enough said.

    --
    Like what I said? You might like my music
  24. Re:No DMCA in Austria by breon.halling · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... the somewhat awkward choice of words, mediocre grammar and poor spelling.

    So you're saying they post on Slashdot? ;)

    --
    "Yeah, well, Dracula called and he's coming over tonight for you and I said okay."
  25. Re:Geography anyone? by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is this the "Australian" group that's been blackmailing Microsoft that I've been hearing about for a few days now? With an email address ending in .de? No wonder I was so damn confused. Thank you.

  26. All your Xbox are belong to us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Load linux for great justice!

  27. Re:Woops, too late by zerocool^ · · Score: 2, Funny

    As the wise man once said,

    "You can't un-ring a bell"

    ~Will

    --
    sig?
  28. Very first line pretty much sums it up... by NoCashValue · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Today is a very said day for Microsoft."

    If they can't even spell correctly in the opening sentence of their world-shaking statement, how the hell are people supposed to take them seriously?

    Bah.

  29. Re:After reading the articles... by GunFodder · · Score: 2, Funny

    Judging by the results of the Independence Day poll it looks like most of the Slashdot readership lives inside the USA. This gives the DMCA relevance. And if you think your backwater of the globe will never have any similar laws, think again. The future of property is ideas, and the rich and powerful need laws like the DMCA to protect their property.

  30. Re:Blackmail by mikeybee · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've moderated recently, and I'm concerned.

    How did you get a camera into the stable without me or the pregnant dwarf noticing?

  31. Re:After reading the articles... by More+Karma+Than+God · · Score: 4, Funny

    > The DMCA? Last time I checked American law wasn't a global thing.

    We're working on fixing that.

    --
    Go here to create your own Slashdot dis
  32. Re:After reading the articles... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Actually, judging by the results of the Independence Day poll it looks like Slashdot editors don't know enough Independance Days to make the poll slightly relevent for the 6 Billion odd of us whom it did not cover. That was one of the few polls I did not bother to vote in for example; the U.K does not actually have an "Independence Day".

  33. Re:No DMCA in Austria by BESTouff · · Score: 2, Funny
    Fortunately, the DMCA has no teeth in Austria where these guys seem to live. Note the reference to a Mr Kritsch working for MS Austria and the somewhat awkward choice of words, mediocre grammar and poor spelling.

    Wow, I always thought there was a majority of True Americans on /. and now you tell me all these poorly spelled posts are from some european bastards ?

  34. Re:After reading the articles... by staticdragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    reread the article.
    Austria != Australia
    One is in Europe the others somwhere way the hell on the other side of the globe.
    One has kangaroos, the other has... what the hell does Austria have, except apparently good hackers?

  35. Re:After reading the articles... by BESTouff · · Score: 4, Funny
    Having money should not mean carte-blanch authority

    You're not from the US, are you ?

  36. Re:honestly... by dekashizl · · Score: 4, Funny
    If I hollow out the case and use it as a planter, is that an illegal modification? Can Microsoft sue me because they're not making their royalty money on the plants I'm growing in my XBOX?
    Dude... What kind of plants are you growing in there?
  37. Statement from Bill Gates... by JFMulder · · Score: 4, Funny

    "640k underflow should be enough to hack an Xbox."

  38. Re:honestly... by Jarlsberg · · Score: 2, Funny
    If Microsoft decided you could only use an Xbox while wearing fluffly bunny slippers they have that right.
    Are you mad?
  39. Obvious solution by princeofweasels · · Score: 3, Funny

    The obvious thing for Microsoft to do is to install a video camera in the box so that they can insure proper use.

  40. Sadly.... by Dr+Reducto · · Score: 2, Funny

    The members of the team were found dead the next day. The police believe that they all had heart attacks while sleeping. No Foul play is suspected.

  41. LIBERATE AUSTRIA! by Recoil_42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    poor guys, they have no idea that they've just put austria next in line for "regime change"..

    --


    Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
  42. Re:Woops, too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    could you expand a little?

  43. Re:Woops, too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nah, more like this.

    Ah, Penny Arcade...