Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Run Linux as a Windows Screensaver

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the you-really-can-put-it-anywhere dept.

zornorph writes "A software engineer at IBM has come up with a way to 'construct and package a Linux® LiveCD so that it will install using the standard Microsoft® Windows® install process and will operate as a standard Windows screensaver.'"

25 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Why not stand-alone? by xorbe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The article doesn't make it clear why it should run as a screensaver... is the ISO interactive? How does one escape the screensaver? Why not just run it stand-alone?

    Also, this was surprising: "OS/2 is finally being withdrawn on December 23, 2005. According to the IBM Web site on OS/2 Warp migration (see Resources), there is no replacement product from IBM. IBM suggests that OS/2 customers consider Linux." They should at least recommend a specific product, else the remaining OS/2 userbase will entirely fragment. Recommendations are not irresponsible, only the customer blindly accepting it would be.

    Following the instructions in the article is not for the faint of heart!

    1. Re:Why not stand-alone? by MoxCamel · · Score: 5, Funny
      If you have to ask why...you really don't belong here. :)

      Mox

    2. Re:Why not stand-alone? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

      The article doesn't make it clear why it should run as a screensaver... is the ISO interactive? How does one escape the screensaver? Why not just run it stand-alone?

      No no no, you don't understand, while it runs as a screensaver, it's building Gentoo. Only after it's done can you run it standalone...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    3. Re:Why not stand-alone? by aichpvee · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why? So when someone says, "nice screen saver, but does it run Linux?", he'll be able to say yes.

      --
      The Farewell Tour II
    4. Re:Why not stand-alone? by rjstanford · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should at least recommend a specific product, else the remaining OS/2 userbase will entirely fragment.

      What, both of them?

      --
      You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
    5. Re:Why not stand-alone? by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Funny
      Only after it's done can you run it standalone...

      What, I have to wait until next week?

    6. Re:Why not stand-alone? by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny

      Because it sounds like he may be a little new here:

      "but does it run linux" was the question asked of the first new Windows release since Linus coded Linux.

      Finally, we have an answer.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    7. Re:Why not stand-alone? by c_forq · · Score: 5, Funny

      What, I have to wait until next week?

      I know this is slashdot, but you don't have to rub in how much faster your state-of-the-art processor is then mine. I'll have to wait until next YEAR!

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    8. Re:Why not stand-alone? by cHiphead · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This article seems a bit late and the screensaver angle makes it useless. I've been running colinux as a service on my windows 2000 box for almost a year. I can apt-get anything from a debian/compatible repository...

      where's the news?

      Cheers.

      --

      This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    9. Re:Why not stand-alone? by Trejkaz · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think the phrasing in this scenario is usually "I happen to know both of them."

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  2. Awesome by c0dedude · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is cool, as long as you don't need to use your keyboard or mouse.

    --
    Since when has this country used intellectual elite as a pejorative term?
    1. Re:Awesome by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's OK, just use the joystick to control Linux. For some reason windows doesn't think the joystick is primary input, so if you're using it for an extended period, then the screen saver turns on. This feature is great during games. Always seems to pop up at the most inopportune moments.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  3. What a pain® by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Am I the only one® to find non-legal documents® polluted by legalese bullshit® extremely annoying®?

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Maybe there is a point... by fmaxwell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A distributed computing project (ala SETI) which relied on Linux could run this way.

  5. RTFA Please! by ThatGeek · · Score: 5, Informative

    The submitter referred to this software as a "screen saver", but if he had bothered to read the story at all he would have realized it should in fact be classified as a "computer saver".

    Still, it's a very interesting story!

    --
    What are you eating? isItVeg?.
  6. So what happens when... by CaroKann · · Score: 5, Funny

    You run Windows and the screen saver kicks in...
    And it runs Linux with Wine, and the screen saver kicks in...
    And it runs Linux with Wine, and the screen saver kicks in...
    Ad Infinitum...

    1. Re:So what happens when... by JFMulder · · Score: 5, Funny

      This reminds me of a funny thing with Virtual PC. Trying to install Virtual PC on a Windows virtual machine running under Virtual PC popped up "You can't run Virtual PC under Virtual PC. You just had to try, didn't you?"

  7. finally! by theodicey · · Score: 5, Funny
    Now i can get my Windows friends to run Linux by emailing them!

    Subject: Hi!

    Body: How are you ?
    When I saw this screen saver, I immediately thought about you
    I am in a harry, I promise you will love it!

    Attachment: Linux.SCR

  8. I'd rather run winows... by theheff · · Score: 4, Funny

    as a linux game. It's pretty fun... if you don't get a virus in 14 minutes you win!

    1. Re:I'd rather run winows... by Bradee-oh! · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's pretty fun... if you don't get a virus in 14 minutes you win!
       
      Uggh... I can't stand another game with an unreasonably high difficulty level =/

      --
      "This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
  9. One good reason... by rkaa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    to use this, would be to in effect run Xscreensaver on Windows! Using XP, I really miss those. And they will never be ported.

  10. With roles reversed... by Sathias · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean I can run 3D Pipes as an OS?

    --
    Blessed are the 1337, for they shall pwn the earth.
  11. Re:what do you call this distro? by Gryle · · Score: 5, Funny

    "the [thing} you can see but you can't touch?"

    Girls?

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  12. Re:A screensaver.. or not? by Slack3r78 · · Score: 4, Informative
    As a user who would try this out, it sounds fishy in terms of any practical use. You type something, the screensaver vanishes.

    Not really. Windows screensavers are just executables with the file extension changed to .SCR. The program itself dictates what causes it to quit. Now, most screesavers do exit when there's any kind of keyboard or mouse activity, but it's nothing built into the screensaver framework itself.
  13. Already exists! by DavonZ · · Score: 4, Informative

    OK. When andLinux (http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/AndLinux) was released to the public over a week ago, Slashdot flagged it as uninteresting and ignored the news. andLinux is a Debian based Linux distribution that runs in Windows. It uses CoLinux, Xming and several other technologies to work.

    So, is it that LordDavon (yes, me!) is just a john-q-public open source developer and doesn't matter... but if Big Blue does something similar they matter!? Is it that Dynamism is supporting andLinux and not IBM? I really am a bit pissed on this one! I really believed that Slashdot would want to promote a project made for the public, by the public. I guess I need to try and make money off of Linux for them to care.

    Honestly, I just don't know. What I do know is that I don't need a screensaver to run Linux in Windows, I was first and Slashdot and IBM can kiss my ass!