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Shuttle XPC Linux Network Appliance
NoPants writes "Another big name looks like it's going to shack up with Linux. Shuttle, the maker of those small little cube looking PCs, is adopting Mandrake Linux with their newest network appliance XPCs. You can check out a review of the machine at Sudhian."
Shuttle has bundled Mandrake with it's barebones and motherboards for a long time now.
The unofficial
And not to be confused with those large, big cube looking ones.
Bottom line: Mandrake was easier and faster to install than XP. It had just as many pretty pictures, and it required less knowledge on the part of the user regarding networking, hardware, etc. It took 40 minutes instead of 50, and required only one reboot as opposed to the nine+ required to install XP. And when it was done, the reviewer had far more applications ready to run installed on the machine.
His conclusion was that Linux is indeed ready for the desktop.
John
Off Topic? I was pointing him to a faster hard drive to eliminate his troubles. Nice modding. *shaking head*
My Tech Posts on Twitter
On a somewhat related note, there's a recent article on anandtech about the Asus DigiMatrix, a barebone computer aimed at people building a home-theater PC. that's one sexy box, with a volume knob and case buttons and an LCD, video capture card, radio tuner, tv tuner, gigabit ethernet, wireless ethernet, DVD/CD-RW, embedded audio-player OS, 7-in-1 card reader...
I'm seriously considering getting one of these and making a linux media station / fileserver. Obviously Asus supports only Win2k and WinXP, but it seems like a fun challenge getting all those cutting-edge hardware components to run in linux. Most of them, even the ethernet controller, are so new they aren't directly supported in the kernel yet. And getting all the various Linux media applications to start up and obey the case buttons automatically based on what is inserted sounds like a software project in itself.
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
I agree. I made one of these little machines for someone yesterday. It only has two fans in the system, a power supply fan and a CPU/system fan. Plus, the system fan is a 'smart' fan, so it scales its speed based on the temperature of the CPU. It is loud when you first turn it on, but as soon as it detects that the CPU is a safe temperature, it backs off. I couldn't hear it at all over my normal computer. Even with my normal computer off, it is still very quiet. Unless you are running Prime95 or gaming or something, it should stay fairly quiet.
I was really impressed with the little XPC machine. My mom thought it was cute machine and I was like, "This is what I have wanted to make for you!"
adpowers
What exactly qualifies this small form factor computer as a network applicance?
I'm just curious...
--------------------------------------------- SignalGod ---------------------------------------------
This is where things start to pick up...
With a Linux distro bundled with hardware, buyers of said hardware do not need to go on their own initiative to download and install linux. It is right at their fingertips, bundled with their new barebone. They've just bought a Penguin Powered system, and chances are they will try linux out and not just delete it...... And then they will see the light.....
And this is where Linux on the Desktop really starts to expand......
Let it begin.
Defenestrate Windows...
"Another big name looks like it's going to shack up with Linux."
Linux seems to really get around. But what will the children look like?
Since the site is dying at 10 posts already:
Mirror!
Interesting topic, Shuttle XPC Linux Network Appliance.
A PC+Linux isn't a network appliance, its still a PC. A true network appliance, is a raid array with an ethernet adapter, its a piece of hardware performing a function.
Before you say, well yes the computer can do it also.. You have install and set it up. Appliances in general are stupid things that are cheap and easy to replace, you just plug in and turn on. PC's are not appliances.
Little pet peeve, but really if you don't care for HD's and the whole 1000k vs 1024K, this is along those lines. Use the correct terms you hackers.
The only problem is that it *doesnt* stay quiet. I have one of these on top of my TV. The fan on the CPU is a POS, and the two little fans are the same brand. After about 3-4 weeks of being on continuously they are all whining at 100 decibels. I've pulled the plug on the two case fans, but the CPU fan continues to whine and rattle. Cheap-ass POS.
I just built out my own Shuttle system a couple of weeks ago, based around the SB65G2 and a P4 3Ghz. Unless you've seen one in person, the "cube" format is smaller than you expect from pictures.
The quality of the case and motherboard are very impressive, the cooling solution for such a small system is very clever. In addition, the instructions that came with the system are very clear, with photographs that detail each step of the build.
I'm dual booting it between XP and Redhat 9, and both are running great on the system.
-- Bander
What we need more of is science!
I've built a few of these as well. My mother loves the one I got her for Christmas, even though it took her a while to understand that it was the whole computer and not just an external cd-burner, which is what she had asked for. =) Even better yet, on the noise fron though Shuttle has finally released a new version, the Shuttle Zen, which features an external laptop-style power brick adapter. Hence, only one fan total and it has even less equipment inside to cool. Very smart! This is of course old news to folks who prefer the Mini-ITX formfactor (or the absolutely tiny Nano-ITX or other such shrinkages), where external power and no CPU fan leads to truly silent computing.
Another good article from these guys.
My point is, surely your experience of installing an OS is largely dependant on the *extra* hardware that you have e.g. 802.11b card etc
I think it is great that Linux can get a fairly "standard" PC up and running without too much hastle these days. However, it is the glitches encountered with "non-standard" PCs that mean it isn't quite ready for the end users desktop.
Just my two pennies worth...
Another big name... Shuttle, the maker of those small little cube looking PCs...
Heh.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
Sorry for having to mention this, but we get spam from Shuttle Germany: ``If you don't want this kind of email, then please answer with "No Mail".''
I will never do business with Shuttle. Shuttle in Germany is a spam supporting company.
my other sig is a 500 page novel
I have a Creative Labs TNT PCI video card that I could never get to work properly with Windows 98. The card worked perfectly with xfree86, and I have it currently installed in the Linux server next to me. Sometimes Windows just doesn't work with some hardware, and it's considered ready for the desktop.
Nascantur in Admiratione. (Let them be born in Wonder)
How long will it take until they start making these things with heatpipes and large heatsinks and without fans?
I'd much rather have a passively cooled box with a transmeta crusoe/efficeon or VIA C3 and a PVR350 card, than a box that can do software encoding+decoding and needs lots of fans.
...now 2.6GHz machines with 800MHz FSB's and HT are "network appliances?"
I guess nobody told my P4-1.4 that, because it's certainly handling its duties as a web/file server, router and workstation quite well.
is shuttle suitable? has anyone tried? what about noise?
... this could fill in a bit of market gap left by the Cobalt line, maybe? I know I'm interested in this anyway.
C|N>K
Now shipping with Linux (and it installs easier than XP)! Holy cow! How did the future sneak up on us like that?
...as RedHat NEVER actually cared about user expierence so much as Mandrake have all the time. Ok, for some time and still Mandrake Linux 9.2 initial release was too buggy, BUT things are improving, if we are talking about user interface side. Configuration tools and update system in Mandrake are clean and very well thought (don't talking about rpm depency here, only graphical interface). All things mentioned by reviewer also have made my life easer (don't looking to that I'm advanced Linux sysadmin). People starts to pick those things what Mandrake have envolved and extended for years. Good for them. As I have left them as my favorite platform - using Debian now - but still, Galaxy as default theme for both KDE and GNOME rocks as their many configuration tools. And it has the best solution in Linux how to mount SMB share in GUI.
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
The kids
I don't know what kind of crack some of you are smoking about having to reboot continuously with Windows XP. I use both Linux and Windows and I rarely have to reboot either. Anyone who says otherwise is just spouting fud.
Reminds me of a bunch of Acers that were shipped about a month or two ago to the retail store where I worked. They also had a "smart" system fan. Unfortunately, the "smart" part of the fan got screwed somewhere and the fan revved up to full speed and stayed there, not only making the blasted thing sound like a Chinook helicopter, but also venting out air at ludicrous speeds. It was bad enough that you could feel the air flow even 3 meters ( ~9 feet for the silly people among us ) away from the thing. And hear it too. Some sort of patch was released after we contacted Acer and that calmed the thing down, more or less. I'm still amazed the fan itself didn't shatter into a thousand bits mere seconds after power on.
Hate me!
who cares it was understandable.
I bought a Shuttle SS51G about this time last year. 1.7 GHz Celeron, 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive. I originally stuck Mandrake on there, then after a month, moved to Debian (testing). I've been running Debian on there since, and I must say it is a very nice fit.
No matter where you go... there you are.
Shuttles make great Home Theater PC's. I have been using one for several months now. Linux support for this type of hobby is growing as well.
Using one of these you can build a device for your home theater that will handle MP3's, DVD's, DIVX, Pictures and act like a TIVO.
Adding Linux to the mix could make pre-configured HTPC boxes as common as DVD players. Maybe even for sale at Walmart.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
*This site is optimized for Netscape 4.5, Mozilla 1.0 and IE 5.0 or above.
This may be a good company to support(with purchases). Thier left hand and right hand seem to be coordinated.
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
What planet have you been living on for the past year? Shuttle is the most successful manufacturer of small-form-factor PC hardware. Begone, troll.
_/\ - Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crud.
I was talking to a friend who works at nvidia and he said that the fans are a little noisy, but they were chosen because they don't fail.
Just put a quieter fan in there and watch that fan.
If ASUS were to release a ready to roll Linux distro with the Digimatrix, with all the required drivers (HDTV), preconfigured/ready to run out of the box with MythTV or such, they would just about own the world with this totally slick little box.
Have you tried Mandrake recently, or are you talking about some crap distro such as Debian.
Sharing files, just right click and share once you have set it up using Mandrake Control Center.
Burning a CD, say hello to K3b, the easiest Linux burning software.
Setting up a firewall is a job for your mouse in Mandrake as well.
Please stop spreading fud. Mandrake makes things easy, you are now on my foes list.
If he had he would have seen screenshots of "those kinds of tasks" being "acomplished with a polished GUI"
I can see it now - budget PCs sold with Linux to make them cheaper. Consumers who don't know/care about Linux get it and spend years complaining to everyone about how the computer can't do X and Y.
G
It doesn't inconvenience them. Otherwise you've just got an annoyed Microsoft customer using Linux cdroms as coasters.
Might be good for people already familiar with Linux or who want to make the switch. But for a new user to convert its going to have to do something better then the current standard (which like it or not is Windows). Something that will actually positively effect their day to day use or give them some ragging rights. Like preinstalled MythTV.
Quack, quack.
- How about cutting a CD - most burners ship with some sort of burning software for Windows (e.g. Nero 5). Under Linux say hello to 'mkisofs', 'cdrecord' and another HOWTO. If you want to burn an audio CD of MP3's, you're in a world of pain.
Well, you haven't used K3b. I've used Nero before - truth is, K3b is easier. Literally a drag-drop-click-burn operation. For atypical data burns (or music), this is a great program.At the same time, I made a script to do my backups, mkisofs and cdrecord based. Being able to use the command line for these tasks is sometimes more convenient, at least for the repetitive ones. I just click the icon that runs my backup script, and I'm done, thanks to that ugly CLI.
Pretty has its place. Function has its place. Linux gives you both.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
And what serious applications do these toys serve? Come on. They are neat, but no more serious computing than an xBox.
Idiot,
Mandrake* has had every item the moron mentioned covered to some degree for quite awhile now.
*as well as every other distro, I use Mandrake myself since ~8.x days, (usually run cooker snapshots now though) Mandrake is usually ahead of SUSE as far as Desktop functionality, but it is a good race.
I will withold any opinions on Fedora until I see it work right, perhaps they just need time, they seem to be getting there.
This guy works in tech support for Shuttle... check his post history!
GO LINUX! DIE MICROSOFT! WOO!
Have you metaroderated recently?
I am interested to see the kind of support available for Linux on the MSI Mega180 sytem. It should be fairly straightforward as it is nForce2, but I still wouldn't expect the LCD or remote to be easy to talk to -- might be a fun project to hack on...
This is very old info!
When I was at the CES show in Vegas a few weeks ago, I asked Shuttle about Linux. They told me they had tried Mandrake but it was a "bad experience," so they went back to using XP.
I don't think you can buy a Shuttle with Mandrake on it anymore.