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What Are the Weirdest Places You've Spotted Linux?

Posted by timothy on from the upside-down-mig-while-communicating dept.

colinneagle writes "Bryan Lunduke recently pulled together a collection of the weirdest places he's found Linux, from installations in North Korea and the International Space Station to a super-computer made out of Legos and computer engineer Barbie. Seen any weird places for Linux not mentioned in this list?"

189 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. Pizza place by royallthefourth · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Like many others, I had several shitty jobs during college. One of those jobs was delivering pizzas for Papa John's. Running in the office of our store was a desktop computer with some really locked-down Linux on it that was limited to running some awful console program and a PDF viewer.

    1. Re:Pizza place by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Same deal at Pizza Hut... I had a job with them porting from SCO Unix to Linux. Until they started a hugely expensive attempt to move over to windows NT. I'll bet that stuff is STILL in the stores (not the windows mess, I think they scrapped that after I left. )

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:Pizza place by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Be happy it wasn't some AS/400 garbage...

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    3. Re:Pizza place by just_another_sean · · Score: 1

      I had a job with them porting from SCO Unix to Linux.

      I hoped they paid their $600 per workstation licensing fees!

      --
      Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
    4. Re:Pizza place by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Oh? Actually, I seem to recall that the back of house system contacted such a system via modem every evening to upload the day's numbers and supply orders.... So, I didn't touch it directly, but we had them..

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    5. Re:Pizza place by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Oh you know it...At least they where buying SCO at the time. Say, maybe that was why SCO took a dump, Pizza Hut changed OS...

      Come to think of it, maybe that was why they where porting to NT. Last I heard they had 5 Million in development costs on just back of house, but that was over a decade ago. Even so, I still see the old system in use at the less than modern Pizza Hut's.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    6. Re:Pizza place by Nimey · · Score: 1

      That was $699. ...you cock-smoking teabagger.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    7. Re:Pizza place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Be happy it wasn't some AS/400 garbage...

      as/400 garbage?? Where have you been hiding? Every casino and most banks use AS/400s, they are called iSeries now. Runs better than Linux or windows, and is almost hack proof, almost. Don't disrespect a technology you don't understand.

    8. Re:Pizza place by just_another_sean · · Score: 1

      Doh! You're are correct sir. Can't believe I forgot that, I certainly saw the teabagger troll enough in it's heyday.

      --
      Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
    9. Re:Pizza place by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

      In 1998, I visited the USS New Jersey. There was a computer in a compartment near the bridge, running Linux. I seem to recall that it was some kind of HAM radio software, and/or weather-related. I took a picture with my Mavica; I'll have to check it when I get home.

    10. Re:Pizza place by chuckinator · · Score: 1

      I worked at Papa John's in the late 90s myself, and that wasn't linux. It was a SCO UnixWare variant driving a bank of dumb serial terminals. Not sure what they're using now, but that was almost 15-20 years ago.

    11. Re:Pizza place by chuckinator · · Score: 1

      ...also, this was one of those things that varied store to store depending upon whether the location was franchise owned or corporate, so no two stores were exactly the same.

    12. Re:Pizza place by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      they did switch to a Linux POS system in the early 00's, the BEETLE POS sold by Wincor Nixdorf.

    13. Re:Pizza place by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

      And stable, you can whine as much as you like about the death of the mainframe, but until there is a reliable solid alternative it will be around for many many more years. (And no Linux might be more reliable than windows, but it does not come close).

      Let's also not forget the billions of lines of code you will have to rewrite.

      --
      There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
    14. Re:Pizza place by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      Ahh the joy that became I-Series

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  2. Toronto Parking Meters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At the Toronto Linux Users Group I heard a story about how the parking meters used to crash because some setting would randomly kill processes when Linux was running low on memory.

    1. Re:Toronto Parking Meters by cayenne8 · · Score: 2
      I've seen Ubuntu Linux running on the new Wizard of Oz pinball machine from Jersey Jack.

      I've pulled up the command prompt on it, and has been kinda fun hacking the machine with new sounds, music and videos.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:Toronto Parking Meters by hawguy · · Score: 4, Informative

      At the Toronto Linux Users Group I heard a story about how the parking meters used to crash because some setting would randomly kill processes when Linux was running low on memory.

      That's probably the Out of Memory handler in Linux. It's not exactly random, the OOM handler ranks processes by "badness" and prefers to kill off newer processes that are using a lot of memory before going to older, long running processes.

      There's a sysctl.conf setting that will tell the kernel to panic and reboot in an OOM condition instead of trying to kill off enough processes to continue running, which is probably would be better for an unattended parking meter.

    3. Re:Toronto Parking Meters by segin · · Score: 1

      Most of the game machines at Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, FL run on Linux. I seen one crash and learned that the seemingly static and painted graphics around the physical/mechanical slot reels is actually a high definition HUD-style overlay panel - the normally-running machine next to it looked like a regular old mechanical slot machine, with plain old painted symbols on the reels. The crashed unit had it's reels partially obscured by the black background of a Linux kernel text console. Yes, the little windows in the decor that let you see the reels? Nothing more than software saying "make the screen transparent in these areas". The decor itself was also part of the display. I did learn that they were running Fedora Core 4, from the kernel version tag's suffix.

      I also learned that most Lowe's stores have nearly 70 computers in the store. No more than three run Windows, if any. They use a modified KDE3 desktop for all the rest. Also, the touch-screen computer kiosk in the paint department is also a Linux machine - usually there's the keyboard attached to it, just hidden under a shelf. If you find the keyboard, you can break the kiosk for about three minutes with Ctrl-Alt-Bksp :) [The kiosk interface software is seemingly a Flash standalone projector started from an .xinitrc or so]

      McDonald's also uses Linux for their digital signage in the restaurants. Not the signage that has the prices, mind you, but the HDTVs you see on the same area, or right around the corner from the service desk, that show McD-related trivia, products, and deal-of-the-day. I've seen then screw up at multiple locations - which always leaves the HDTV showing a console login prompt. Kernel version tag says they run Fedora Core 6 on all of 'em.

    4. Re:Toronto Parking Meters by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 2

      A photo booth at a mall I think had 'kernal panic' on the screen, so I assume it was linux.

      Wouldn't you feel insulted if it had a kernel panic right after taking your picture?!

  3. I once saw the FreeBSD Daemon on a condom machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    In London, the actual proper Daemon, I know its BSD licence but that was a bit of a shocker. Oh this is about Linux?

  4. Swagalicious, #YOLO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yes, kernel paniced on the videogame machine at a dive bar I frequent.

  5. Bill Gates Mansion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It must be in some embedded system, there, somewhere.

    1. Re:Bill Gates Mansion? by cusco · · Score: 2

      Most of the IP security cameras on the market run a Linux kernel, so yeah.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  6. The strangest place? by Joe+U · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I once saw Linux on some average users desktop. Total non-techie, and there he was using Ubuntu.

    1. Re:The strangest place? by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

      I call bullshit.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    2. Re:The strangest place? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There's a charity here that gives computers to needy families. All the computers they give come with Ubuntu, regardless of the age or pre-existing operating system found thereon. This has lead many families here, who would otherwise not have ever heard of Linux, to have it installed on their home PC.
      On another note, I run a computer shop, and I have actually had 2 non-techies come in and ask that I install Linux on their machines. One because he had heard that he could watch porn without risk of viruses (a sensible reason for a non-techie to have Linux IMHO), and the other because -- of all things -- he had heard it was better for gaming. I explained to him that it was often better at graphics processing on the games that are available on both platforms, but that most of the popular games he played were not available for anything but Windows. He still insisted he wanted Ubuntu installed, but I was able to talk him into dual-booting with 8.1. I don't want him coming back 3 days later and demanding a refund because he can't figure out how to run Rune Scape.

    3. Re:The strangest place? by SpzToid · · Score: 1

      Somehow, somewhere, they must have had 'connections' so they were not really what you claim to be as a 'normal user'. There is no marketing campaign, because no budget exists to market free software, so how else would you explain your sighting? No way was this some random oddity.

      --
      You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
    4. Re:The strangest place? by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      I can verify. My brother-in-law loves it and he's about as tech-savvy as my grandmother.

    5. Re:The strangest place? by i.r.id10t · · Score: 1

      Yup, same here, but it was a Fine Arts/Photo student's laptop, running Ubuntu 12.04

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    6. Re:The strangest place? by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

      There was a Goodwill thrift shop in Akron, Ohio that used to sell old, used computers with some odd linux distro on them. I don't remember what distro it was, something unexpected, but this was several years ago, and I was more than a bit surprised. Might just have been one person's labor of love and a way to repurpose old hardware for po' folks, who knows. I may go back in there to see if they are still doing it, and what distro it is now, if I'm in the area again.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    7. Re:The strangest place? by NeverWorker1 · · Score: 1

      Awesomest grandmother ever?

    8. Re:The strangest place? by Kremmy · · Score: 1

      You're inflicting Windows 8 on your customers? I pity them, where do you operate again?

    9. Re:The strangest place? by steveha · · Score: 3, Informative

      I didn't think it was really strange, but a while back I saw some desktop computers running Firefox on Ubuntu in a coffee shop. This was the old GNOME 2 desktop, so it worked almost exactly like Windows, and the customers in the coffee shop just used the computers and it wasn't any big deal.

      I have set up multiple family members, including both of my parents, with Linux computers. I seem to be the guy who gets called when a computer melts down with malware, so I'm motivated to get people off of Windows and onto something else.

      These days my go-to distro is Linux Mint with MATE. I might switch back to Ubuntu once MATEbuntu is available... on the other hand, I have hopes for Cinnamon, so maybe in the future I'll be using Linux Mint with Cinnamon.

      But for non-geek users, I definitely don't want a poor rip-off of Mac OS X (i.e. Unity) and I definitely don't want the desktop that is just different from anything else ever made (GNOME Shell).

      The MATE desktop has the smooth polish of man person-years of work and the input of usability studies, and it's IMHO the best choice for non-geek users.

      --
      lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
    10. Re:The strangest place? by psithurism · · Score: 1

      No really, non-techies, who own a machine for fun, often just need a web browser and some games, which Ubuntu has. On some laptops, Ubuntu can even use the wireless card without all the typical struggle to get the driver into the kernel.

      It's not until you have to install printers and run niche software that other operating systems actually start being needed.

    11. Re: The strangest place? by julian.lees · · Score: 1

      Linux says: "There's more than one way to skin a cat".

    12. Re:The strangest place? by Joe+U · · Score: 1

      It was my Uncle and a Dell Inspiron desktop and nothing was working right since he had no idea how to maintain the computer. But he did know how to use Firefox and get his email.

      I fixed his computer as a Christmas gift. It runs Windows 7 now and he knows how to use IE and get his email.

      I also turned on auto update, cranked UAC to maximum and set it to require a password, 3 years, no support calls.

    13. Re:The strangest place? by bogie · · Score: 1

      Don't run normal users under the Administrator account and use Chrome. Also there are a ton of resources on hardening windows out there. If you are familiar enough to know how to install and configure Linux and even if you aren't, then something like this should be trivial http://krebsonsecurity.com/201...
      I'm hardly saying Windows is somehow better or more secure then Linux, just that with a little planning you can avoid having your computer get ruined every time your kids use it.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  7. On the desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "This year is going to be it."

    1. Re:On the desktop by mark_reh · · Score: 2

      Windows is finally ready for the desktop!

      FTFY

    2. Re:On the desktop by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

      Don't tell HP: they're promoting WIndows 7 PCs again, due to "popular demand." This may be a result of Microsoft's sustained alternation-based release cycle. After ever decent version the Windows dev team take a long vacation and phone in the next release.

      Examples: Win 95 - somewhat groundbreaking, Win 98 - buggy as all hell, Win 98 second edition - much better, Windows Millennium Edition - huge pile of crap, XP - much better, and still widely used, Vista - a bad joke with no punchline, 7 - best Windows ever(?), 8 - does anyone actually like or want it? Win 8 is probably so bad that 8.1 can't fix it enough, and isn't enough of an overhaul to count as a new version, but Windows 9 is going to be killer!

      Disclaimer: I was a DOS and OS/2 user until they faded away, and have been 95% on linux since 2007 (except for my Android addiction), so maybe my opinion of Windows doesn't count.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    3. Re:On the desktop by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Win7 is the default on the order page for some top end Lenovo laptops too.

  8. In a Prominent Company by abednegoyulo · · Score: 1

    Based in Redmond

  9. Delta infotainment by bhenson · · Score: 2, Informative

    In deltas infotainment head rest. Saw it netbooting when it powered up

    1. Re:Delta infotainment by DougOtto · · Score: 1

      United uses it too.

      --
      Solving Unix problems since 1989...
    2. Re:Delta infotainment by twotacocombo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Got to watch the headrest units do an infinite reboot loop from DC to Dublin on a United flight last year. Every single one on the plane was doing it, for 7 hours straight.

    3. Re:Delta infotainment by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      Geek moment - on a recent United flight, I remember trying to read the device driver names as it rebooted right before takeoff.

      The system kind of sucked. It was X, meaning it kind of was designed with a mouse with a single pixel "Hotspot" in mind. My not very sausage-y fingers and my wife's even-less-sausage-y fingers had a hard time navigating the touchscreen.

      Luckily enough, for what this is used for, start a crappy movie and sit for 2 hours, it didn't frustrate us that much.

    4. Re:Delta infotainment by mjwx · · Score: 2

      In deltas infotainment head rest. Saw it netbooting when it powered up

      Not uncommon, Singapore Airlines uses Gentoo. When you think about it, it makes sense as an airline IFE system would need a robust multicast system.

      Up until a few years ago I would have said a phone. Linux is so common on embedded systems these days that its hard to find an odd place for it. I guess an advertising platform, I once saw a 7x1 metre advertising screen reboot with the CentOS logo.

      The strangest OS in a place I didn't expect I've seen in recent years is DOS on an new industrial lathe. Apparently DOS is the best application for the sub mm precision that they needed.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    5. Re:Delta infotainment by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Apparently DOS is the best application for the sub mm precision that they needed.

      I've used an Apple ][ with an analog to digital card to get some very precise measurements (timing at two points to measure velocities up to mach 1 in helium at around STP). The operating system used doesn't really matter much when external hardware is doing the heavy lifting. That thing would have MSDOS because that's what the person writing the code was used to and for no other reason.

    6. Re:Delta infotainment by mjwx · · Score: 1

      That thing would have MSDOS because that's what the person writing the code was used to and for no other reason.

      You're a developer aren't you.

      Because if you've actually worked with these systems you'd know that OS does matter, there have been fabrication programs written in almost every OS but we keep going back to DOS because it works better with mm precision and timing.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    7. Re:Delta infotainment by Rufty · · Score: 1

      CNC machine controllers have the really retarded habit of controlling stepper motors by bit-bashing the LPT. DOS gets out of the way very nicely for this. (I don't have to directly control the stepper motors on my ink jet head, or my CD rom, or my scanner, so why on a lathe???)

      --
      Red to red, black to black. Switch it on, but stand well back.
  10. The Desktop? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The Desktop?

  11. Saw Linux in a NAS device replacing a Win2k3 srvr by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 1

    Not that weird, just that it was a large insurance company that was previously
    100% a M$ house.

    With them having 18,000 offices across the US that one is going to save them a
    fair bit on licenses I am guessing, lol.

    --
    google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
  12. Coffee Machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just the other day the coffee machine in my office rebooted, and it is running Linux under the hood. One of these http://www.cafection.com/en/products/innovation-series/total-1.

  13. Saw an interesting windows install once by Scared+Rabbit · · Score: 1

    I've never seen linux anywhere weird, but one time I saw an arcade game (I want to say it was San Francisco Rush but it could have been some other racing game as it was 2002) that had a classic windows BSOD displaying instead of the game.

    1. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      I love a good random windows BSOD story as long as the next /. and linux geek; but it is a special kind non-sequitor to slam windows in discussion titled (and I'm paraphrasing here) "where have you seen linux? [ for funzies discussion only! ]"

    2. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by PRMan · · Score: 1

      I can confirm that I have also seen a Windows 2000 boot loop on San Francisco Rush.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    3. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      I believe the strangest place I have seen a BSOD was when a gas pump tossed up one on me a few years back. I was so stunned that my brain just shifted into autopilot and started debugging the gas pump error messages before I recovered enough.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    4. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by Scared+Rabbit · · Score: 1

      I wasn't trying to slam windows. In fact, at the time I was a 100% windows user. I just thought it would be fun to mention an interesting place to see windows since I didn't have any interesting linux locations to report. I doubt anyone who passed the machine would have had any idea that it was running windows if it wasn't for the fact that it had a BSOD up.

    5. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by mspohr · · Score: 1

      My favorite from TFA:
      "There are two amazing things I need to point out here. First: the International Space Station runs Linux. Second: the ISS used to run Windows. And, when it did, they managed to end up with a virus and malware epidemic caused by infected USB thumb drives. From Russia. That is not a joke, nor is it the plot of a James Bond movie. That actually happened. In space."

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    6. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by Kiaser+Zohsay · · Score: 1

      Who else remembers the Beijing Olympics?

      --
      I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
    7. Re:Saw an interesting windows install once by mrfaithful · · Score: 1

      Most of the new arcade machines are mostly regular PCs running stripped down windows installs. Cheap hardware, well documented development environment. Sadly old arcade machine mentality means replacing commodity parts with other commodity parts is usually impossible.

  14. Aer Lingus in flight entertainment by ardmhacha · · Score: 1

    I was on an Aer Lingus flight once between New York and Dublin. There were some issues with the inflight entertainment system so they needed to shut the system down and restart it.

    A Red Hat Linux boot sequence appeared on the screen.

    1. Re:Aer Lingus in flight entertainment by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      Same here! Except, somehow only _I_ locked up the in-flight entertainment machine trying to search for other people to play poker with and failsafe timer eventually rebooted the thing (just mine, not the whole plane).

    2. Re:Aer Lingus in flight entertainment by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      Ditto Air Canada's in-flight entertainment system. Not sure what flavour, but it definitely runs Linux.

    3. Re:Aer Lingus in flight entertainment by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      The last time I saw one of them crashed it was Windows 3.x, and it was loooong after you'd expect to see that.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    4. Re:Aer Lingus in flight entertainment by Garbonzo+Pitts · · Score: 1

      A few months ago I was on a United flight from Chicago to San Francisco with a linux-based entertainment system. They appeared to do routine pre-emptive reboots when the plane was on the ground.

  15. Lotttery machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    As I was leaving a grocery store, I saw a Linux boot sequence scroll across the screen of a lottery vending machine being restarted.

    1. Re:Lotttery machine by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1

      I know the Minnesota Lottery terminals use MontaVista Linux with X11 and what I believe is a Java interface on top of it. First spotted it when I was working at a convenience store in 2004. At a certain time the terminal would automatically reboot. One night I'm there late, cleaning up, and boop! There it went.

      --
      Rawr
  16. Airline Flight by TheNinjaroach · · Score: 2

    I was on an airliner once that had movies running to screens built into the back of each seat. I wasn't watching the movie, but at some point the host announced there was an issue with the movie playback and that they had to restart the system. A minute later I was looking at the Linux boot process scrolling across every screen on the plane.

    --
    I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
  17. Also a pizza place by brokenin2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was at a Chuckecheese with the kids for one of their friends birthday parties when one of the machines freaked out...

    It was a photobooth that took your picture, and then made a sketch like version of your picture and printed it out for you..

    When the employee came to reset it, I got to see either Redhat or Cent boot up.. Somewhere I've got a picture..

    1. Re:Also a pizza place by Idou · · Score: 1

      You've got a picture of a photobooth? Do you have a picture collection of photographers, as well? Perhaps it sits on your coffee table, next to a camera catalog.

      Sorry, I must get more sleep tonight . . .

      --
      Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
  18. In a theatre in Milan by r1348 · · Score: 2

    Went with my wife to see Much Ado About Nothing, noticed that the theatre's booking/ticketing system ran on an old version of Fedora with Gnome 2. Might be because the theatre is just next to Milan's Polytechnic...

  19. In a Casino by Poohsticks · · Score: 1

    Was traveling through Temecula, CA and stopped for a drink and the buffet at Viejas Casino (not a plug - just reference) and as I was walking through the casino we had a brown-out (very high heat and massive electrical usage on that day). Was very interested to see all of the slot machines rebooting through a standard linux kernel and boot-loader straight to the "normal" slot machine game. Weird - but makes sense.

    --
    "The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been wide
    1. Re:In a Casino by mythosaz · · Score: 1

      I can echo this.

      Most new slot machines (video and reel) have Linux running under them. Anyone who spends any time in a casino can see the operators opening them for maintenance and seeing them reboot.

    2. Re:In a Casino by armanox · · Score: 1

      A friend of mine set up the slots here in MD (in one of the casinos anyway) and called me in surprise to tell me they were all running Linux.

      --
      I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
    3. Re:In a Casino by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      It's amusing to me to see the old ones reboot - they're often still running XP (or 2000).

  20. Kernel panic at the disco by cloud.pt · · Score: 1

    A VJ system in a portuguese club popped up a kernel panic at 3AM, and not it wasn't Deadmau5 playing.

  21. Weirdest? by Endloser · · Score: 1

    Really the weirdest? If the weirdest is really what you're after I would say an ATM. Those usually run Windows and when I saw one running Linux I was very surprised. But it isn't really that weird to find linux in places that aren't obvious. So much so that now I expect to find Linux if I find a device where I assume there is a high level language used to maintain it (and surprised if it is something else).

    A few quick examples of places Linux is gaining ground that may not be obvious to the average consumer:
    Cable boxes
    Televisions
    Gaming consoles
    Auto-mobile dashes
    Refrigerators
    Soda dispensers
    Aquarium/Terrarium controls

  22. FBCB2 by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    The command and control system embedded in US Army vehicles runs Linux. It is called FBCB2, or Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below.

  23. what happened to ask? by X0563511 · · Score: 1

    This looks like it should be in ask.slashdot, not here...

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  24. Shoulder surfing on an international flight by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

    Years ago I was returning to Ottawa from a business trip to the UK I was seated behind one of the Xen project members (from Cambridge or Oxford?) who was on his way to present about Xen at a conference.

    I know this because he spent a significant portion of the flight editing his slides in OpenOffice under Linux, that turned into one of my most educational flights ever.

    --
    XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    1. Re:Shoulder surfing on an international flight by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      It was linux in the wild in the real world doing real work a decade ago.

      Sorry if that doesn't crank your engine.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    2. Re:Shoulder surfing on an international flight by brokenin2 · · Score: 1

      I believe that Xen is probably the most used VM/hypervisor on the planet..

      Amazon and EC2 have deployed a pretty fair number of them with a lot of success (like all of their VM's).

  25. That'd be in the butt, Bob by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

    I know a total nontechie who wanted to show me something on her laptop. I walked over expecting to see Finder of Explorer, and was surprised to find myself looking at Unity. I'm sure some "rocket scientist" installed that for her, but for day-to-day use, it's very clear that the people who say Linux isn't "ready" don't know WTF they're talking about. Icons and menus and windows, are icons and menus and windows.

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    1. Re:That'd be in the butt, Bob by Teun · · Score: 1
      Absolutely, Linux is since years quite ready for the desktop.

      Unity might be a bit of a FU for people that want control of their desktop but otherwise it 'just works', personally I wouldn't do without KDE..

      Last year while leaving Jakarta, Indonesia, I noticed a small screen on the front of the immigration officer's boot that showed a stuck Grub screen, on the adjacent boots this screen displayed some security information for people leaving the country.

      When my boss travels he has a USB thumb drive with Grub installed on it's mbr, the company's IT locked down computer has Kubuntu installed on an encrypted partition and whenever he feels like doing some private stuff, banking, browsing, private mail, he boots up to Linux with the USB drive inserted.
      So far IT has been too dumb to realise what it is :)

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  26. Insane asylum. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Before I escaped I saw they were running CentOS.

  27. Re: I once saw the FreeBSD Daemon on a condom mach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Having sex under a BSD license is the way to go.

  28. Behr Paint Kiosk by pfleming · · Score: 1

    At Home Depot looking around at paint samples, the Behr color picker Kiosk was on an Ubuntu splash screen.

    1. Re:Behr Paint Kiosk by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think all Home Depot computers run Linux too. Or at least they're running not-Windows as far as I can tell.

      --
      Rawr
  29. Emergency Alert System by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just yesterday I saw a textual Linux login screen at the end of an Emergency Alert System test. It was "Red Hat Linux release 9 (Shrike)" with "Kernel 2.4.24 on an i686".

  30. None of them are weird by rgbe · · Score: 1

    I would consider it weird to see MS Windows or even more weird would be OSX in those places.

    1. Re:None of them are weird by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1
      I very much agree. Linux can be incredibly lightwieght and flexible. More often than not I'm looking at something and wondering why they need all the heft and complexity of Windows to do such an ostensibly simple task. Like those looping electronic display systems. Why do you need Windows for that? There might be a very good reason, but I don't know it.

      I mean, I know what goes into those systems (the ability to have it automatically pull down media from a remote source, or to be able to push media to it; a play log, usually accompanied with a screen recording, though electronic bilboards just use a camera to check for display defects; and remote maintenance) but all that could be done in Linux.

      --
      Rawr
  31. Slashdot, Soylentnews and most usenet servers by q.kontinuum · · Score: 1

    Usenet is nice. I can recomment comp.misc, a nice, active group with some activity there :-) (For Slashdot and Soylentnews I'm actually only guessing. An nmap probe reveals an F5 load balancer for slashdot and a probably a Linux-Box for soylentnews.org.) BTW: I hope slashdot will keep it's classic forum software, would like to remain a regular here :-)

    --
    Trolling is a art!
  32. Kiosk PC in tiny coffeehouse at Canada Lake, NY by daboochmeister · · Score: 1

    There's a small convenience store in the middle of Adirondack Park, by Canada Lake, NY, with a tiny coffee bar in a separate room. As recent as 1.5 years ago, the PC (there for residents/campers who don't have net access) was running gOS (here for more info). Was kind of clunky, but it was also a very very old PC (like, 256MB of RAM old).

    There were a couple of things obviously wrong with it and I asked if they wanted me to fix it up, but they said no, some guy came by every month or two and did stuff to it.

    --
    "Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh ... never mind." Dave Bucci
  33. On the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) by dav1dc · · Score: 1

    I would happen to be waiting for the Subway one day when I noticed that the platform level information display was stuck in an infinite reboot loop (looked like a hardware failure)...

    But I was pleased to see the DEBIAN splash screen on the display!! ^_^

  34. iPod by cripkd · · Score: 1

    iPod Nano 1st gen. Mine.

    --
    Curiously yours, crip.
  35. On a floppy disk by CrowdedBrainzzzsand9 · · Score: 2

    A very early linux...on a floppy disk

    1. Re:On a floppy disk by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1

      Hell, until recently you could get Debian netstall images on diskette. First diskette contained the kernel and everything needed to bootstrap the system, if I remember correctly, and the other three contained the installer, dpkg/apt, modules for network hardware, sources lists, and I think a few base packages for installation.

      --
      Rawr
  36. My Timewarner Cable by metotalk · · Score: 1

    After every emergency broadcast test, my TV will show a terminal login prompt to a

    Fedora release 10 (Cambridge) Kernel 2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686 on an i686 (tty1)
    TWCPlanoEAS login:

    and it will stay there until I turn the cable box off and back on again.

    1. Re:My Timewarner Cable by sexconker · · Score: 1

      After every emergency broadcast test, my TV will show a terminal login prompt to a

      Fedora release 10 (Cambridge) Kernel 2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686 on an i686 (tty1)
      TWCPlanoEAS login:

      and it will stay there until I turn the cable box off and back on again.

      Why not try logging in?
      root/guest

    2. Re:My Timewarner Cable by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1

      Not root/password?

      --
      Rawr
    3. Re:My Timewarner Cable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      root/12345

      Works for my luggage!

  37. In the military... by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was stationed at a small base just outside roswell and we were dispatched to investigate an aircraft crash site. when we arrived these little grey guys were running all over the place waiving their arms about, when I looked inside the strange sausage shaped craft there was a computer teriminal running that I had no idea what it was until 1992 when I first saw linux.

    Those little guys were running linux. I think they were put in a government protection program and one of them was shipped off to Finland.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:In the military... by marcello_dl · · Score: 4, Funny

      Cool story, bro, but... ...if the aliens craft actually ran linux, it would not have crashed in the first place.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    2. Re:In the military... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Yes it would, they were attempting to use skype.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  38. Re:On a Republican candidate's computer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Does making over generalizations make you feel smart and definitive?

  39. Home Trainers from Technogym by YoungManKlaus · · Score: 1

    at least the one at my fitness center run some linux, and they do tv, radio, internet, have an ipod dock and stuff like that

    1. Re:Home Trainers from Technogym by Kalriath · · Score: 1

      All Technogym gear does. You can tell from when they randomly kernel panic and take 20 minutes to reboot and start XWM.

      --
      For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
    2. Re:Home Trainers from Technogym by YoungManKlaus · · Score: 1

      lol, made my day

  40. A 'specialty' shop by geekoid · · Score: 1

    that sells certain types of paddles.

    Canoe paddles.

    What?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:A 'specialty' shop by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 2

      Damn! For a moment there I thought I had found another enthusiast...


      ...of table tennis.

      --
      Rawr
  41. Olympic Torch for youth olympics by Njovich · · Score: 1

    Never really thought about it, but we hooked up a small linux system for GPS-tracking the Olympic torch at the Youth Olympics. Of course, youth olympics are not really a big or important event, but it is 'official' olympic fire from Olympia.

    The thing with Linux systems is that unless something really weird is happening, you would never know you are looking at one. I suspect there is much more linux around us than we realize.

  42. Sanborns, Xalapa, Mexico by John+Bokma · · Score: 1

    Sanborns, Plaza America, Xalapa, Mexico has a "Linux Terminal" at the magazines section. It has a Sun keyboard with a Spanish layout :-).

    --

    Perl Programmer for hire
  43. Tim Hortons and Mr Lube by neiras · · Score: 1

    I walked into Tim Hortons for a double-double. They use big LCD screens for menus and video advertising in stores. Their screens were black and showing pxelinux trying to load. I guess they boot their menu server off the network, probably from corporate HQ.

    Also, Mr. Lube (a drive-through oil change place) was using Ubuntu on their workstations - an early version with the nasty brown window titlebars. Their inventory/sales app was running in Gnome Terminal. Who knows what the backend was, linux was probably only being used to get them to a terminal as cheaply as possible.

    None of these area actually weird. I always find it weirder to see Windows desktops on LED signs in stadiums or by the freeway. Once I was in Vancouver for a football game, the scores on the scoreboard suddenly 'moved aside', and lo and behold, there was a My Computer icon that was like 20 feet across. It was pretty funny to watch the operator trying to drag the "scores" window back into place to perfectly line up with the scoreboard screen.

  44. Provinzial insurance company. by mischi_amnesiac · · Score: 1

    Provinzial (a german insurance company) has all their desktops with their custom software running under Ubuntu.

    --
    "Die endgueltige Teilung Deutschlands - das ist unser Auftrag." - Chlodwig Poth
  45. Is it ironay by geekoid · · Score: 1

    that so many people recognize Linux in so many 'add' places becasue it ad crashed or needed a reboot?

    I find it pretty funny observation, NOT a derision toward Linux.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Is it ironay by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 1

      You'd be surprised. Most of the time when I see Linux splashes it's during "ordinary" use. For example, the infotainment systems in Delta flights are completely powered down until the on-board power systems come online. And Minnesota State Lottery terminals are pre-programmed to do a reboot every 24 hours.

      --
      Rawr
  46. TV Shows by armanox · · Score: 1

    I remember someone saying they saw a laptop on Power Rangers (fairly recent season, like in the past 5 years, can't find reference now) running Ubuntu.

    --
    I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
  47. Mr. Lube by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

    I saw they were using Ubuntu, the last time I went there to get my oil changed.

    --
    If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    1. Re:Mr. Lube by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

      What I do on my own time is none of your business!!!!! :(

      :)

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
  48. United airlines inflight entertainment system by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

    On my last flight back from overseas I saw Linux booting on the inflight entertainment system of a United Airlines Boeing 777.

    --
    Time to offend someone
  49. Submersible 4000m deep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I booted linux at 4700m below sea level, probably the deepest linux boot ever.
    Shinkai 6500 research submersible.

  50. 30000 ft by gnalre · · Score: 1

    At 30000 feet on a united 767 on the entertainment system. It had to be rebooted so i could tell it was red hat and a lot more info too

    --
    Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
  51. Re:Weirdest? by Lehk228 · · Score: 2

    I saw an ATM a few years ago boot up O/S 2 Warp

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  52. Obligatory bash.org by abednegoyulo · · Score: 1

    http://bash.org/?49048

    1. Re:Obligatory bash.org by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      :) and i blew my chance at modding "Funny" by posting...

  53. Re:I once saw the FreeBSD Daemon on a condom machi by deviated_prevert · · Score: 1

    In London, the actual proper Daemon, I know its BSD licence but that was a bit of a shocker. Oh this is about Linux?

    The BSD girls have got Linux geeks balls to the wall always has always will! Nothing sexy Linux geeks or penguins for that matter unless you are really kinky.

    --
    This message was not sent from an iPhone because Peter Sellers really was a deviated prevert without a dime for the call
  54. My Cell Phone ! by kjhambrick · · Score: 1

    I swear I saw the Linux Kernel ( 3.4.0 ) on my Cell Phone !

    How smart is that ?!?

    -- kjh()

  55. Android phones and ChromeOS also. by technomom · · Score: 1

    There are some who would argue that Android isn't really Linux, but it certainly is a derivative of it. So, you've seen it running on 80% of the world's smartphones. It's also in ChromeOS which is starting to gain a bit of traction.

  56. Re: I once saw the FreeBSD Daemon on a condom mach by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 2

    I'll go hang it right over my bed immediately!

    --
    Rawr
  57. Re:Likewise by gnunick · · Score: 2

    Which, due to Linux's efforts to guard every user account against every other user account, is an absolute nightmare.

    With a comment like that, it's quite apparent you don't know much about Linux system administration. You should read up on the appropriate uses of 'sudo' before you go messing things up.

    --
    I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. --Albert Einstein
  58. Re:Weirdest? by cusco · · Score: 1

    LG switches. Most horrible pieces of carp that I have ever dealt with in 18 years of networking.

    --
    "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  59. Cambridge, UK. Park and Ride buses by stephen_p_barker · · Score: 1

    I once got a Cambridge "Park and Ride" bus which had just commenced duty. A computer controlling TV screens running local adverts started booting, the OS was Fedora. Once booted you would not have known you were not watching a continuous tape with half a dozen adverts.

  60. Slotmachine by gpaliot · · Score: 1

    One brand (Lionsomething...?) of slotmachines that is frequently found in German pubs, kebap joints etc. runs some RedHat like flavor.
    Source: Saw it rebooting once.

    --
    ceci n'est pas une sig
  61. Strangest place I ever saw it... by superdave80 · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...was on the desktop one time. Ca-raaaazy, man!

  62. Bar table top game machine by Eyezen · · Score: 1

    You know those table top game machines you see in bars, one I guess had some type of issue because it would boot up into the game but a couple minutes later would reboot and you'd see the familiar boot sequence scroll thru, don't know what distribution it was because I never went up close to look but you knew it was some type of linux from afar

  63. Re:What's the stupidest quesiton you have seen on. by dotgain · · Score: 1

    I'm with you, happy to take a downmod that this is about as lame as a Slashdot story ever gets.

  64. Multimedia overlay on ruins in Rome by photonic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Last year, I visited the Palazzo Valentini in Rome, which is just a few steps away from Piazza Venezia and within falling distance of Trajan's column. They dug up some Roman remains of houses and temples in the basement of a more modern building. They did quite some effort to make it into a multimedia show, with beamers projecting accurately aligned overlays of all kind of things that had disappeared. One cool effect was for example to extend a mosaic, of which only a small piece was left, over an entire room. I was observing how the tour-guide started the shows, he was just launching a VLC player or so on a linux box sitting in a rack in the corner. From the looks of the icons, it was probably an older version of Ubuntu (8.04 or 10.04).

    --
    karma police: arrest this man, he talks in maths; he buzzes like a fridge, he's like a detuned radio. [radiohead]
  65. Somewhat of an odd question.... by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

    Insert normal whine about downmodding here, but it's gotta be running SOMETHING right?

    I mean if we had union of all "what's the weirdest place you've seen {MacOSX,Windows,WindowsCE,Linux,FreeDOS,OS/2} you'd get a good chunk of all the odd devices. Though in the future, they all might run Android, then we'll debate if that's Linux (Linux kernel, non-stock everything else)

  66. Walt Disney World by FirstTimeCaller · · Score: 1

    Saw a Linux boot screen on one of the Toy Story Midway Mania displays.

    --
    Wanted: witty unique signature. Must be willing to relocate.
    1. Re:Walt Disney World by hawaiian717 · · Score: 1

      Interesting, because the attraction was reported, at least when it originally opened, to be running Windows XP.

      --
      End of Line.
  67. Re:platelet separator by Kichigai+Mentat · · Score: 2

    I think that it's just a certain level of paranoia. The Minnesota Lottery has their terminals set to automatically reboot at like 8:30p or 9p daily.

    --
    Rawr
  68. My Seagate Central External HD by detain · · Score: 1

    The Seagate Central external HD seems to run linux. Its running sshd, lighttpd, smbd, along with several other common services. Its only got 256mb ram 1gb swap so you can't do a whole lot with it at once but it still makes a pretty neat little linux box. Was an unexpected bonus being able to ssh to root on my external drive. It only costs like $15 more than a plain external usb drive.

    --
    http://interserver.net/
  69. There are no weird places for Linux. by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

    But I bet that some places that do run Linux would be really weird for Windows.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  70. Coffee machines by zmooc · · Score: 1

    Really not that weird, but the coffee machines where I work all run Linux 2.6.something.

    --
    0x or or snor perron?!
    1. Re:Coffee machines by psithurism · · Score: 1

      Really is that weird. What operations do your coffee machines do that requires a full featured operating system?

      Though, my coffee maker was $2 while I've known people who have owned several hundred dollar, personal, espresso machines, so my conception of coffee machine might not be up to snuff.

    2. Re:Coffee machines by zmooc · · Score: 1

      The main operation for which they require a full featured operating system is to fill up their 64MB of RAM:P

      --
      0x or or snor perron?!
  71. Channel 1000 of my Home TV! by stevew · · Score: 2

    I have a Fedora login prompt on channel 1000 (The Comcast test channel) on my home TV.

    The problem is - I can't find the keyboard anywhere near by to try and log in!?!

    --
    Have you compiled your kernel today??
  72. Antarctica by WWJohnBrowningDo · · Score: 1

    Antarctica.

    Whose bright idea was that anyways, breeding a bunch of linux moscots and shipping them over there?

  73. Philips FC9910/01 robot vacuum cleaner, with USB by Mafia$oft · · Score: 1

    Probably that thingy qualifies as semi-weird only, but my Philips (equivalent to Yujin Robotics Iclebo Smart) runs a full Linux, on a somewhat weirder Samsung-based ARM (S3C2460?? NOT bog-standard 2440!!) platform w/ 64MB flash and 64MB RAM and a USB port for firmware upgrades with an RT73 WLAN driver available which does work with e.g. a hama no. 00062744 type WLAN stick (plus audio hardware even, but not software-supported by default unfortunately). I have to admit that I haven't found the time yet to morph that machine into an OpenWrt-based platform, but I sure as hell do plan to.

  74. Well, the aliens running MacOS had it bad too by kaladorn · · Score: 1

    Remember Independence Day?

    Sorry for the unpleasant mental bleach moment, but that is the logical follow up to this post about Roswell and Linux.

    --
    -- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
  75. Wawa by Chronus · · Score: 1

    If you ave ever been around the Philadelphia area and stop by to get a hoagie from our wonderful Wawa convenience stores, all the touch screens run linux. As do all the Megatouch gaming systems in bars.

    --
    And this long long speach comes to one point... That-- OOOO! QUARTER!
  76. Re:Weirdest? by kaladorn · · Score: 2

    Probably until at least 2001-2002, the a large federal police force's main communications gateways were running OS/2 Warp Connect. Why? It was pretty robust (as long as you didn't use HPFS which didn't behave well in a machine crash as far as preserving open files).

    I liked OS/2. It's a real pity IBM marketed Windows 3.1 and later 95 with its IBM desktops when OS/2 was a) available, b) more capable, and c) better thought out. The triumph of marketing over quality (much like the ancient Beta vs. VHS battle).

    --
    -- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
  77. Public transport by gmuslera · · Score: 1

    Each bus in Montevideo use it for ticket sales, gps tracking and more.

  78. Watched Linux boot on Virgin America yesterday... by rootrot · · Score: 1

    The electrical had shut down just as we boarded and they had to reboot the entire system...watched a full load cycle (complete with a wee penguin in the upper left...).

  79. Airplane Entertainment Console by dubious+elise · · Score: 1

    On a Delta airplane in the seat-back console. Link goes to image: http://i.imgur.com/aCWUi9V.jpg

  80. Quantum computer by mapcan · · Score: 1

    The D-Wave 2 runs it

  81. Re:Weirdest? by jazzdude00021 · · Score: 1

    I don't use a cable box, running the coax straight to my TV and using its tuner, but if I tune to Ch 999-5, I occasionally see a login prompt. Forget what version of *nix it is (Red-hat?), but I'm hoping to someday catch someone working on it live...

  82. Running on a recycling bin in the City of London by StoneyMahoney · · Score: 1

    Well, I say "running", it was actually complaining the bootloader was screwed. I have pics. It was one of those wifi enabled bins that's been accused of eavesdropping on the MAC addresses of mobile phones as people walk by. What a shame.

  83. Lottery Ticket Scanning Machine by HaZardman27 · · Score: 1

    In high school I worked at the service counter of a grocery store. The lottery ticket scanner was a touchscreen computer that was running Linux.

    --
    Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
  84. Routers, Switches, DVD Players by evilviper · · Score: 1

    I'm always amazed when I find dirt cheap devices running Linux, like my $30 D-Link router capable of DD-WRT with USB. no-name 24-port enterprise switches, or $40 DVD players with Divx and USB support.

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  85. Re:Android phones and ChromeOS also. by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

    An operating system running a Linux kernel is not Linux, this argument is only made by people who don't know what they're talking about.

    --
    XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
  86. Non-techies say Firefox great, unaware Linux under by raymorris · · Score: 1

    I often install Linux for non-technical people. They USE Facebook. Some of them are aware that Firefox is how they get to Facebook.They don't _care_ what's running underneath Firefox. If I ask someone what version of Windows they are currently using and they aren't sure, they are likely a good candidate to upgrade to Linux. Android and ChromeOS are examples of this. How many people buying smartphones know that they are using Linux? How many care?

    The people I don't suggest Linux for are the people who enjoy editing their registry and such, but are NOT interested in the far greater flexibility for customization that Linux has. Anyone who doesn't know what "the registry" is won't miss it on Linux. Those who love tweaking their registry or other more advanced OS tweaks are the ones who would be lost in Linux.

  87. LOL. On Walmart laptop, wifi ONLY worked in Linux by raymorris · · Score: 2

    > On some laptops, Ubuntu can even use the wireless card without all the typical struggle to get the driver into the kernel.

    Funny you mentioned that. The last laptop I bought was from Walmart. Since Walmart only carries a couple of laptops in the store at any given time, I figure they must sell millions of those models.

    I got it home and spent a few minutes checking to make sure everything worked with the factory disk image before I put an OS on it. Hmm, everything was fine except the wireless. Control panel said the driver wasn't installed. That's odd, why sell millions of units and not bother to install the wireless driver? So I go to download the driver, can't find one. I guess that explains why the driver wasn't installed - apparently there was no driver for that version of Windows. No big deal, we weren't going to use the wireless anyway. So I pop in the CentOS Linux installation stick with my kickstart file on it and walk away. An hour later I come back and I see it's downloading updates. What the heck? I haven't plugged it into the network yet. The Linux distro included the wifi drivers, drivers that weren't available for the new version of Windows.

    Niche software, such as occupation-specific software, sometimes requires Windows XP or whatever specific version of a specific OS. Lately, I've had better luck with drivers on Linux than on Windows. My HP printer "just works" on the Linux devices. On Windows, the driver is bundled with a 150 MB download.

  88. Dave and Busters by KClaisse · · Score: 1

    One time at a normal family outing to D&B's my sister had a problem with the photo booth which required an employee come and restart the machine. As it booted up I saw something very familiar, it was a grub boot screen with a fedora core 2 OS selectable on-screen.

  89. In the Dustbin by danknight48 · · Score: 1

    I found a DVD of Ubuntu in the bin.
    I must of put it there after i realised Debian + LXDE was a much, much, much better choice.

  90. Chicago Gaming Console at Costco by Tyketto · · Score: 1

    Not unexpected but a weird place for me was at Costco over the holidays. The Ultimate Gaming Console by Chicago Gaming that they sell for $2499.99 is actually running an embedded version of Linux with MAME. Someone had tripped over the power cord, unplugging it. I saw it boot up after they pulled it back in. I had thought about pulling the trigger on it until I saw that. Then I thought that I could build myself one for cheaper.

  91. Re:Faux Knews by Glock27 · · Score: 2

    Well, you win for the most inane comment on this topic.

    Stereotypes are bad, m'kay?

    The "tolerant left"...an oxymoron for sure.

    --
    Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
    Score: -1 100% Flamebait
  92. In the operating room, detecting blood oxygenation by CorporalKlinger · · Score: 1

    The hospital I work at uses Invos / Somanetics 5100C monitors which perform Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring of blood for patients under anesthesia.

    This is the monitor: http://www.covidien.com/rms/pr...

    These monitors run on Linux, a fact I learned when I watched one boot up the other day. It showed its Linux Kernel version and then ran through the typical 5-10 pages of gray text before loading the user interface. They basically have about a dozen hard buttons on the front (no touchscreen) and some specialized ports for the cables to the NIRS sensors. They work great and do exactly what they're supposed to.

  93. Re:Hey bigmouth by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    You're an idiot.

  94. Re:Obvious AC post by viperidaenz by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    I was not that AC. I don't post anonymously.
    You're an idiot.

  95. Re:Weirdest? by greyparrot · · Score: 1

    Before Linux, most competent ATMs used OS/2 rather than Windows. It was reliable and not that easy to mess with.

  96. Location? by identd · · Score: 1

    What, like the backseat of a volkswagon?

  97. Re:LOL. On Walmart laptop, wifi ONLY worked in Lin by lkernan · · Score: 1

    My HP printer "just works" on the Linux devices. On Windows, the driver is bundled with a 150 MB download.

    It's HP, they'll find a way to bundle a 150 MB download with anything.

  98. On a TV show by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 1

    I saw Ubuntu running on the desktop monitor of a judge on TV* last night. Usually they use some custom graphics to fake an interface, was surprising to see Unity.

    * It wasn't actually ON TV, it was from Amazon Instant Video.

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    Stasis is death. Embrace change.
    1. Re:On a TV show by Lorens · · Score: 1

      It's running the Matrix!

  99. Re:Weirdest? by Hamsterdan · · Score: 1

    To be fair, even as I loved OS/2, it would have been suicidal for IBM to not offer Win95 while all the other OEMs did (in the consumer market at least). And its biggest disadvantage was (ironically) its win-OS/2 layer, meaning software writers didn't have to make a native OS/2 version, so most simply never did.

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    I've got better things to do tonight than die.
  100. In a Fruit-Loops commercial by time_lords_almanac · · Score: 1

    Not Linux exactly, but Tux is clearly present in this Fruit Loops Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  101. Fingerprint Scanner by captaindynamo · · Score: 1

    Not sure if it was Linux, but I did see the old style X server boot screen. The officer didn't seem to know much about it. Didn't get a chance to learn much about it on the way to the holding cell.

  102. Cern... by dargaud · · Score: 1

    Yeah, the big ass accelerator in Geneva, it runs almost entirely on Linux.

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    Non-Linux Penguins ?
  103. Bullshit by dbIII · · Score: 1

    WTF do you get that rubbish from? These days almost nobody is going back to that ark for any reason whatsoever.

  104. Also by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Also which idiot told you that an operating system can measure to "mm precision"? That's a unit of length not bytes, and it's not much precision anyway. Either they were joking, trying to trick you, or a complete and utter idiot. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are naive instead of a complete and utter idiot for passing this utter bullshit on.

  105. Weird? by allo · · Score: 1

    Is it weird to see linux for example on the monitor in a bus, which displays the next bus stop? Why would a Windows (CE?) be more appropriate (which is used by other systems, like ticket automats)?

  106. Re:Odd places by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    try the Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 3

    What? As far as I know the PSone can't run Linux. And while the PS2 and PS3 can, they don't do so by default.

    The PS3 by default runs some kind of BSD variant, so they say, no one is for sure exactly. A lot of BSD notices in the thing, but didn't see anything about the kernel.

    The PS4 obviously runs BSD 9, Sony showed that for sure and the appropriate licenses are shown in the information.

  107. Stupid Damn Link! by bbsalem · · Score: 1

    This article points to a slide show of images Linux is supposed to be installed on, without no demonstration that it is. What a waste of time. Some dumb-ass marketer in the social media game, people who cannot read have to be shown pictures. To install Linux you have to be able to read, because one of the ways it gets from place to place is to have to bootstrap through a text-only interface, not a stupid slide show.

  108. Coffee machines by Astfgl · · Score: 1

    The coffee machines at my office run SUSE. They have 8" touchscreens, and it's kinda fun to reboot them and watch SUSE load up all the device drivers, etc., before finally starting the main "gimme Java" fullscreen application.

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    "I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by..." -Douglas Adams
  109. IP camera by hwk_br · · Score: 1

    Some IP cameras my boss got from China. I was surprised to telnet to them and get a shell...

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  110. Maybe BSOD is actually brand marketing by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    Pretty much the only time bystanders get to see which OS a public embedded system (such as the airport departure/arrival screens or the display of a vending machine) is running is when it crashes.

    IMHO there's actually a lot more 'public' embedded systems running Linux than you might think, certainly more than those running Windows. The problem though is that you'd never know because the Linux ones just keep working properly all the time, whereas It seems those running windows are quite happy to regularly advertise that fact through very visible and not infrequent BSODs.