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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?"

31 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.

    1. Re:Security issues? by toasted_calamari · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My thoughts exactly. When I read this article the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" sprung to mind. I have never seen a "does everything" device that actually worked well.

      --
      Let's make a difference
    2. Re:Security issues? by MikeXpop · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No kidding. Get r00ted and there goes your TiVo, your mp3 collection, your heat, your security system! There goes your whole freaking house! No thank you.

      --
      Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
    3. Re:Security issues? by 3Suns · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who says it's just one machine? I don't know the system details, but it's quite possible that the system includes multiple actual computers that would have a firewall in front of everything, and eliminate the single point of failure. $15000 buys a lot of hardware, even if the system includes several "orbiters" and a fancy cell phone and whatever else.

      --

      -3Suns

      ~~~~
      The Revolution will be Slashdotted
    4. Re:Security issues? by nvrrobx · · Score: 5, Informative

      I happen to be a developer on this project.

      It is not just one machine. The system setup is different based on each customers needs.

      Since I don't work in sales or marketing, I can't give you a full rundown, but the product does scale based on the customers specific needs.

    5. Re:Security issues? by Geek+of+Tech · · Score: 4, Funny
      Me sees it now... box gets rooted while I'm away from home...

      Me: (arriving home from some LAN party) Pluto, open the Garage door.

      Pluto: I'm afraid I can't to that, Dave.

      Me: Dave? OPEN the GARAGE DOOR PLUTO.

      I'm afraid that this conversation can serve no purpose. Goodbye. (At that moment, Pluto connects to the computer in my car and drives me somewhere to somewhere near Texas...

      --
      Stop the Slashdot effect! Don't read the articles!
  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
    1. Re:A little too successful with my PVR :( by dont_think_twice · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Thanks to Tivo, you haven't been introduced to new shows that you might like

      Not exactly the pursuasive argument you were going for, now is it?

      Wow, he is really missing out. All that time he is spending doing constructive things, he could be watching TV.

      I think you are missing the point.

    2. Re:A little too successful with my PVR :( by ghjm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It isn't TiVo doing this to you.

      The Simpsons, Futurama, Friends, Seinfeld and Frasier represent a generation of television that was compellingly watchable. Some of those shows are still soldiering on, some of them aren't. As they die off, they are being replaced by shows like Survivor, The Bachelor, American Idol and Fear Factor. Yes, there are a few decent shows still being produced, but they are being crowded out of the schedule. I haven't added up the numbers, but I would bet that in the 2000 - 2003 time period there were less than half as many great new shows as there were in 1996 - 1999.

      What it boils down to is, the advertising market has crashed, so budgets for TV series production have disappeared. Reality shows are cheap to produce, and they pull in the numbers. So that's where TV has gone. If you like reality shows, this is a Golden Age. If you don't, welcome to the post-TV consciousness.

      TiVo or no TiVo.

      -Graham

  3. Here we go again. by MikeXpop · · Score: 5, Funny
    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?
    Hey, computer? Turn up the heat and tape Miami Vice for me.

    "I'm afraid I can't do that David"

    But my name's Mike. Hey, where'd Poole go?
    --
    Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
  4. This is ridiculous! by linux_user_31337 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why should I shell out $15,000 for something that's an order of magnitude more expensive than the sytem I've built myself?

    I built a MythTV system (using a hacked XBox as a frontend!) with a USB webcam for videoconferencing on my TV for less than $2000. It can do everything the Pluto adverises except home automation, but some X10 devices would take care of that.

    This is a perfect toy for the busy executive who loves using the latest technology but doesn't understand it -- not for us able Linux lovers on slashdot!

    1. Re:This is ridiculous! by sid+crimson · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Why should I shell out $15,000 for something that's an order of magnitude more expensive than the sytem I've built myself?


      I'm going to pick on you here. Not personally, but just because the mood strikes and your post is perfect.

      Slashdotters should take the queue from the "pros" and develop an alternative to sell to your boss.

      You see, we complain about the big salaries our bosses command, and complain that they don't know the tech they use, and leave it at that.

      Instead, perhaps we should be building our bosses (and their rich friends) alternatives to the $15K do-all box for $10K and charge $5K labor to install it in their homes.

      $15K either buys them a box they don't know how to use, *or* a box installed with training.

      Not to mention, some of these guys (my boss and his friends included) think of things they want in addition to the built-in features. If you ask me, that sounds like an extra-cost feature.

      Think about it...

      -sid
    2. Re:This is ridiculous! by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
      This is a perfect toy for the busy executive who loves using the latest technology but doesn't understand it -- not for us able Linux lovers on slashdot!
      Exactly, so how is that ridiculous? I take as a good example of somebody who's probably a lot like me, except they had the guts to make a business out of their convergence box hobby. Good for them! As for whether there's really a market, well I guess they'll find out. But I heard an interview with the owner of a local electronics chain, and he told about people who call up asking for a high-fidelity sound system throughout their new custom home. "$30K? OK. When can you have it done?"
    3. Re:This is ridiculous! by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Informative

      It can do everything the Pluto adverises except home automation, but some X10 devices would take care of that.

      not.

      sorry, but home automation is much more complex than you think it is.

      how about the fact you need to interface tons of input sensors and occupancy sensors (not motion detectors) plus be able to RELIABLY control the important things like heat? a RS485 thermostat is $300.00 for the el-cheapo one. the X10 thermostat from RCS is an absolute piece of junk.

      plus you can easily overwhelm your X10 system in the house if you have lots of modules and command consoles.. oh and you had a $200.00 bridge and repeater installed right? X10 doesn't work work a crap without that.

      Let's add in the weather station so the house can wake you 30 minutes early because of the snowstorm last night or alert you that the cover on the hot-tub has blown off because of high winds.

      a few X10 modules and misterhouse is NOT a home automation system.

      I strongly suggest you go and have a demonstration of a real home automation system, thne you will know what it really is.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  5. Yes, but... by Comatose51 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but does it run Linu...

    Oh, wait.

    --
    EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
  6. Pluto, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    I guess Uranus was in use! :-)

    Eagerly awaiting the mod to "-1, Troll".

  7. Hmm by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 4, Funny
    you didn't need that car anyway, did you?

    Not if Pluto comes with four wheels and a V8 engine.

    --
    Hate me!
  8. Targeted for non-technical consumers by samdaone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This device is probably targeted for someone who wants a plug and play solution, or does not have the technical knowledge to build their own from a variety of parts offered at the consumer level (server, software, tv tuner, big hard drives, mic...) Someone with some level of putting together a computer can probably come up with a more economic version of this item.

    However, if you do not want to build your own and have money to burn this is a perfect oppurtunity to buy one!

    --

    Make me your friend. All my friends get +1 modifier and I need friends :)

  9. Re:-1: Slashvertisement by jrockway · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh god. I'm so tired of posts like the parent. Slashdot's advertising is those banners at the top.

    Not story placement.

    Everytime someone mentions some comercial entity on slashdot some AC or troll thinks it's not an ad. ITS NOT AN AD. The editors posted this story because they thought we'd think it was interesting. And it is.

    Also, if you don't like slashdot, you can leave. We won't be crying :)

    --
    My other car is first.
  10. Pluto by aynrandfan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sounds like a Mikey Mouse operation here.

    --

    ----

    "Ours was a free culture. It is becoming much less so."-Lawrence Lessig

  11. All in one, or many single purpose tools by voisine · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a classic argument. Is it better to have a single device that does everthing where all features work together under a single uniform interface, or many devices that are all designed to perform a single task and do it well. The problem with the all in one approach is that it's nearly impossible to everything well. What happens when you want the new features of a competing PVR product? Maybe dual sattelite recivers, or HD capability. On the other hand, what if you want to automatically have your tv volume mute and your stereo turn into a quadriphonic speaker phone when you recieve a call. That's harder to do with seperate devices that don't know about each other. What we really need is a standardized control/communication interface so all the seperate devices can communicate and work together, yet any one piece can be replaced or upgraded with a competitors product at any time.

  12. yes.. by relrelrel · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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?"

    Yes, it's called Windows XP :)

    --
    --- any post that takes longer than 20 seconds to write, isn't worth writing
  13. Hmm by sparklingfruit · · Score: 4, Funny

    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?

    No.


    Not for $15,000 anyway.

  14. Ever wanted an easy-to-configure mortgage... by heironymouscoward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The short answer would be "No".

    The longer answer would be "No, but I'll have some of whatever you're smoking/drinking/injecting/snorting".

    The sympathetic answer would be "No, and I can recommend a very good psychiatrist if you continue to use the terms 'MP3 Player' and $15,000 in the same sentence."

    But I think the most accurate answer would be "BWAAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA oh jeez *wipes eyes* HAHHHAAAA *snif*".

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  15. So the question is... by Valar · · Score: 4, Funny

    when the site gets /.ed, do their lights turn off? Maybe it calls their upstream provider and asks for more bandwidth, automatically?

    --

    ====
    Crudely Drawn Games
  16. Re:-1: Slashvertisement by tazzzzz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As the person who posted this, I can say that I have absolutely no affiliation with the company that makes this. It seemed an appropriate topic for slashdot to me, because here's a product that incorporates doubtless dozens of open source projects into a useful, usable package. (At least, that's the idea... I don't have this system to play with...)

    This is, I assure you, not a product placement (unless the /. editors convinced this company to fork over some dough between last night when I submitted this and now when it appeared on the site.)

    Kevin

  17. 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?

    1. Re:Can be done WAY cheaper by tempest303 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You missed the point. It's all integrated, and "easy to use". What you just listed are completely un-integrated, discrete projects. So, to quote jwz, "Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing". Sure, I could spend a ton of time learning to do each of those things for myself, or I could just buy a box that already does it for me.

      That said, the price is way too high, and I'm betting it's not quite as easy to use or configure as they think it is. However, if they made it truly easy to configure and use, and brought the price to more like $5000 (you're paying for software and customization here), then they might have something - I could certainly see the Sharper Image types digging this. Plus, it would probably have the effect of spurring guys from projects like the ones you listed to make their stuff easier to configure and use, and would also likely result in a FreePluto project... bwahahahaha...

      --
      The Free desktop that Just Works
  18. Why this costs $15000 by tazzzzz · · Score: 5, Informative

    I should have given some more info knowing that the site would be slashdotted...

    For that price, you get the Pluto Core, which is the Linux-based server. You get some number (unclear to me how many) of media distributors (PCs with DVD drives and network interfaces) that hook up to your TV and the Core to show video and play music. You also get "Orbiters", which are hand-held devices to which you can stream video from your security cameras and control the Pluto system.

    So, we're not talking one Linux PC. It's a whole system of stuff. I've requested more pricing info, because I'm curious how much you have to pay for the various parts. $15K is a lot of money, but this can give technically unsophisticated folks a usable "home of the future" sort of setup.

    Kevin

  19. 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.

  20. Bachelor pad by isorox · · Score: 3, Funny

    "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?"

    I assume you get the small bachelor pad thrown in for free? Might be worth it then,.