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ASUS Motherboard Ships With Embedded Linux
Michael writes "ASUSTek has introduced the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, which in addition to using Intel's new X38 Chipset also features a soon-to-be-announced technology by DeviceVM. SplashTop is an instant-on Linux desktop environment that is embedded onto this motherboard. Within seconds of turning on the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, you can boot into this Linux environment that currently features a Mozilla-based web browser and the Skype VoIP client. Browser and VoIP settings can be saved and there are plans for the device to provide new features and support via updates. At Phoronix is a review of this $360 motherboard embedded with Linux and a web browser."
YES, IT DOES RUN LINUX.
(rot13) rpbzbab@tznvy.pbz
All it's missing is iSCSI support for it to be a diskless yet completely functional desktop. Central storage (and upgrade) of apps, documents and settings, just by mounting the appropriate partitions from a large, fast shared disk array.
...Whoa. That is wicked cool. Now, make a lower-end one with cheaper hardware.
What's the point? All it can do is surf the internet and make phone calls. You can't save anything from the internet and you can't mount external media, making it's backup/restore functionality near zip. The author also laments the lack of media playback.
To me it would be much more logical for a user just to have Linux installed on their hard drive with full functionality. Where's the use in a crippled OS on a motherboard?
I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
This is similar to countless computers that had BASIC in ROM and has the same problems. Sure it's convenient, but what people want to do with computers changes every year while ROMs stay the same. Will this thing support IPV6? Browsing the web over corporate VPN? External network adapter/monitor/scroll mouse? Silverlight?
Modern hard drives just take a second to read 4GB, a reasonable size for a quckstart Linux partition. And a PC builder can easily include an internal flash drive with hardware write protection switch. I wouldn't pay any more for this product than for a comparable motherboard without this feature.
Considering the name of the company and the (limited) text on their homepage. Wouldn't it be cool to have a motherboard with built in (ROM) virtualization software like Xen? Isn't that what they're really aiming for?
X.
We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
-- Anais Nin
I think this is a shame (to put it mildly). Hopefully the specifications for the update process will be published so that a Linux solution can be produced.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
This could be very useful for backup/recovery or testing purposes, eliminating the need for a live CD. However, the intended purpose seems to be a completely different one: "With a fast boot-up speed of only 5 seconds, the ASUS Express Gate offers an optional Linux OS boot-up that allows you to enjoy instant access to commonly used functions like accessing the Internet, VoIP, and Web emailing without entering the OS."
Who would want to boot into a crippled Linux where you cannot mount external drives just to browse the internet or make Skype calls?
At least it can be updated, so ASUS might provide more functional versions in the future. However,
from TFA: "To update Express Gate [the embedded linux] though you will need to be running Windows on the hard drive in order to run the ASUS utility."
Now, that's just great...
$360? OUCH!!!!
Because of the price, this mobo will be a total flop. Unless you're an overclocker, most PC builders want a simple board that still provides the latest in North/South bridge technologies. No WiFi, no super mega 7.1 audio, no dual nics, no on-board video. None of that crap matters in our market. If we really wanted all of those features, we would purchase a thin client PC from Dell which includes a nice warranty should any of those on-board features fail.
Life is not for the lazy.
I wonder if the ability to mount other media is restricted in the BIOS or the actual system.
If it is the latter, and since the system can be updated from a running OS, it should be possible to put your kernel, servers and window manager in the flash and have most of your operating system boot instantly. And I have no doubt that if that is the case, some very clever person who was given one of these will work out how to do just that. Given that this does use a Linux kernel, it shouldn't be too hard to get source for any hardware specific issues you might find in booting from this.
Otherwise, this is pretty boring. There has been software available to, say, play media without booting into your operating system for ages.
We at slashdot are scientists, specialists and kernel hackers. Your FUD will be found out.
Here we have an article about linux, and there is this post from an obvious Windows user. Where is the Slashdot of old when all we had to worry about was the occasional GNAA or goatse post.
Those were the days.
* Carthago Delenda Est *
It's interesting, actually. Pro-Linux posts get modded troll and flamebait with some regularity now. I haven't been a very Slashdotter for a long time, but the Microsoft fanboys (shills/astroturfers?) definitely have a much larger influence on moderation than they used to. They've deliberately attacked people that were consistently posting pro-linux stuff: just look at what they did to twitter, whose account is currently sitting in negative karma hell after having ACs copypaste the same exact diatribe at him for months. I got sick of seeing it and I'm not even the guy they were targeting.
Eventually, it's become more and more obvious that there are people whose sole purpose for BEING on Slashdot is to simply bash Linux even though Slashdot is by its very nature a Linux website. Why they find it enjoyable or interesting or even a worthwhile use of their time is beyond me- I simply don't see why anyone who doesn't use Linux would come to Slashdot, load a Linux article, and mindlessly bash Linux. Why not just play some of Windows games that you like so much, you know?
Care about privacy? Read this!
So how does this compare to LinuxBIOS?
I'll start:
LinuxBIOS:
- More capabilities, freedom to tinker
- Less expensive hardware
- Usually not supported by vendor, doesn't work with lots of motherboards
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
This is obviously intended to allow you to quickly make a phone call or look something up on the net. It is not supposed to be a replacement for your entire operating system. If you want to save files, watch DVDs or run your business software then boot your hard drive!
I couldn't count how many times I have booted up my computer just to look up a bus timetable, or the TV guide or just check my mail. And how handy would it be to be able to quickly look at the slashdot headlines while your wife goes back to try on another outfit before you head out.
If the boot time can be believed, you could go from off to reading the /. front page in around 20 seconds. How cool is that?
And I want to set up a temporary Internet cafe at conferences. This would be an ideal, non-hackable environment.
I agree... so close, but no cigar.
I would like to see a bunch of Linux disk utilities like parted, fsck, dd, etc., hardware diagnosis programs like memtest86, benchmarking software, security auditing, etc. All the stuff we usually have on a Live-CD Linux system.
I guess the webbrowser is useful, and so is Skype in case you need to make a call to a support hotline.
And finally, why not LinuxBIOS instead of Megatrends?
Judging by the downmods, you are now...
But you're right. Microsoft marketing drones have been gaming tech site comment systems for a while now. Any discussion of Linux, GPL3, ODF or any other topic which threatens their monopoly will be swamped with red herring and troll posts.
It's one of the more disgraceful features of the company. They're willing to undermine anything - ISO standards, US DOJ, open discussion, etc, etc - if there's an advantage to them.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Some of us are just bored with this whole Linux fanboy idea that Linux is always the best tool for the job. It isn't. Free/Net/OpenBSD, eCos, OpenSolaris and even OS X are often a much better solution for any given problem. Linux has no grown large enough that there are a lot of people who try to fit it into every possible niche, including those for which it is completely unsuited and shouting down anyone who suggests a better option. We moderated down the MCSEs for this kind of attitude with Windows, and we'll mod down the Linux fanboys when they display it with Linux.
Straying back on topic, this is a pretty neat idea. It's a shame Be Inc didn't last a bit longer, because this is exactly the kind of thing BeIA would have been ideal for. That said, it seems more of a gimmick than something useful. Considering how cheaply you can buy a 1GB CF card and CF to IDE adaptor, you could probably create a system like this yourself more cheaply. It's not like this is aimed at Joe Public, because he doesn't buy motherboards, just finished systems.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Maybe I've been in laptop-land for too long (last desktop I owned was three years ago), but do people really still regularly reboot? I close the lid on my laptop, it goes to sleep. I open the lid, it wakes up and I can start doing things with it as soon as I've entered my password. The only time I reboot is to install updates. Surely desktops can do this by now?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
I wonder if it has any GPL3 software, if I remember correctly, GPL3 mentions about screens specifically as a place to put the credit.
To be honest I am not interested in the software, the question is whether the Motherboard can be reflashed with my own choice of mini-distro.
My little Linux and tech blog
Maybe the site is just getting more balanced, and fanboy trolls/shills/astroturfers of any "side" are getting modded down.
Right, this is exactly the sort of thing I've been waiting to see. People often complain that pre-installed Windows has much better integration with the hardware than when you install a Linux OS yourself. I find this rather frustrating, because the openness and flexibility of Linux should in theory make it much easier to integrate. It was disappointing for me to read reviews of the Dell/Ubuntu machines, since the reviewers often lamented a lack of proper integration with the hardware, which seemed to suggest that Dell just hadn't put in the effort to deliver the quality experience you expect from a pre-installed machine (yes, even from Dell ;-).
I hope that devices like this motherboard as well as the up-and-coming Linux smartphones will get companies thinking more positively and imaginitively about what they can do with Linux and Free Software in general.
You know the funniest part? That OSTG makes money by hosting Windows Server 2003 advertisements which spread FUD about Linux.
Sam ty sig.
Idle speculation gets modded insightful now? For shame.
Logical fallacies and other such non-arguments contain no insight by their very nature.
Look 4 year into the future, adding Linux to any motherboard should cost about $10 (the price of the flash). In 8 years every motherboard will have an operating system build into it. As time goes on those operating systems will more and more complete. No one will install an operating system ever again.
Microsoft marketing drones have been gaming tech site comment systems for a while now. Any discussion of Linux, GPL3, ODF or any other topic which threatens their monopoly will be swamped with red herring and troll posts.
No doubt you have your Microsoft fanatics perusing topics regarding Linux. But, are you serious about Microsoft employees doing the modding? I find that very hard to believe as it sounds too conspiratorial.
If what you say is true, than there's a solution. Slashdot could block the IP ranges belonging to all of Microsoft's branch offices including the main one in Redmond. What I mean by block, is to flag and prevent these IPs from modding users posting in topics marked "Linux". Technically, it could be done. Getting the correct IP ranges however, would be the difficult task.
Yes, I am advocating censorship for astroturfers. If a Microsoft employee still wants to mod a Linux topic, they can damn well do it from home if they still feel that passionate about it.
Life is not for the lazy.
I'm a long-time lurker who reads this Slashdot site assiduously. The pro-Microsoft astroturfing started very suddenly and all at once at a very defineable time (I didn't log the exact date, but it was a year or two ago, very noticeable, an almost overnight change). There is no doubt whatsoever that it is a *very* calculated move ... one so calculated, that on the contrary, rather than seeming "conspiratorial," the odds are extremly doubtful that it isn't precipitated by the organization itself.
[Have we gone off-topic, or meta? Is meta allowed here? We'll see:]
/., but at the fringe of major OS initiatives, where the newcomers take up beginner's posts sorting the mail, as it were - and delight in tearing up half of it and throwing it in the trash. What's wrong with kids these days?
Could it be part of a larger plan? As an old Linux hand, I've noticed the gatekeeping on the Bugzillas for a number of major OS projects has been lately taken over by kids who if they aren't being paid my MS, should be. These punks treat bug reports as if they were attacks on the date-ability of their sisters, marking them "bogus" or otherwise closing them before they've even taken the time to understand what's being reported. Often they're tossing "clever" insults at the reporters at the same time. This is what it now means to be running "peer reviewed" code: you review it, you find real flaws, and some teenager whose worked his way into being a Bugzilla gatekeeper rejects the report because, well, you're not his peer. Obviously.
So how have we ended up with kids whose destiny would have used to be manning the complaint desks at Ma Bell in key positions to cripple the quality of OS projects - often projects which directly compete with MS products? </snark>
My real point: MS doesn't have to hire shills. We're doing it to ourselves. Somehow the values that were so pervasive in OS even a few years ago haven't been passed on to the latest wave of newcomers. That's not just showing up on
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
You can already do this with a live CD (or the leaner "sysresccd" which fits on one of those little 3" CDs).
The only advantage of having Linux in flash is that it boots in five seconds.
No sig today...
Yep, it's possible to pick out the talking points that the astro-turfers get handed for a particular topic. A few old chestnuts:
It would be amusing if it weren't such a pain. The worst part, though, is that they used to spend all their time modding their comrades up, but now they've moved on to modding 'inconvenient' posts down.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.