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Pluto: Linux-based Do-everything System

Posted by michael on from the house-of-whacks dept.

tazzzzz writes "Ever wanted an easy-to-configure, whole-house, internet-accessible, Linux-based VOIP PBX with video, PVR, firewall/router, security system, MP3 player, file server, personal web server, home automation (lights, thermostat) controller? I just came across the Pluto which claims to do all of this (and more, of course!). It'll set you back $15,000 if you're living in a small bachelor pad, but you didn't need that car anyway, did you?"

4 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Security issues? by sparrow_hawk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hmm... as "nifty" as this might seem, I think I'd rather my firewall be separate from my mail/mp3/whatever server.

  2. A little too successful with my PVR :( by the+man+with+the+pla · · Score: 4, Interesting

    TiVo: You love it or you haven't met it.

    I got tivo four years ago and instantly fell deeply in love with it. That love continues to this day, but has changed form. About a year ago, I realized that my giddy passion had given way to serenity, by which I mean that I realized that I just didn't want to watch tv any more, even on tivo. It was tivo that got me to this state of mind. It started by seeing how intrusive commercials were, and how much better tv was without it. The next phase for me was the realization of how manipulative the networks were with their program timing and scheduling; how wonderful to be free of that too! And then last summer I found I had dined at the table of paradise enough. I had actually watched enough episodes of The Simpsons, Futurama, Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, and tons of other shows. To borrow an analogy from another slashdot writer, it was like the weekly trip to the hardware store after you've bought a new house, where one day you get there and you realize that you just don't need anything else, and you turn around and leave.

    This has been a profound experience for me. And I don't think I could have gotten here without Tivo. Maybe I would have and it would have taken longer, but I like to think it was tivo.

    Now I keep tivo around for the kid (Sesame St, etc).

    --
    The linux hacker
  3. Can be done WAY cheaper by jgaynor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How about combining IPchains, MythTV and/or Freevo with MisterHouse and some X10 equipment on a commodity $300 1.5-2 Ghz machine?

  4. Been there, done that by krray · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Um, my lowly RedHat 2.1 Linux box was doing all this (except video) back in the early 90's.

    Web, File & Print? Trivial.
    Lights / HVAC? X10
    MP3 music: SliMP3
    (and no, you don't need to buy to use their software -- I just happen to own a couple of them :)

    Answering machine I hacked up waaay back when myself (still use it via ISDN inbound :). Today MP4's are flying across the network to a Powerbook for watching movies on any TV wirelessly.

    For $15K I'd spend it on a Dual G5 with Dual monitors (why not? :) and every toy out there. Probably have a few $K left over... And no, I did not read the article.

    Now -- I did look around the (html version) of the site. Nice little product, though IMHO over priced. I hacked it all up for under $3K (including X10 re-wired outlets as needed). A couple of [radio] all-in-one remotes from The Shack and I can control the lights, TV, and stereo as needed throughout the house. I have a remote for each floor actually, though Radio Shack has since discontinued the model I like -- the new one doesn't work with X10 unit codes 11+ anymore for some reason.