20 Awesome Devices That Run Linux (But Weren’t Designed To)

A common attitude among people who believe in free software is to stick it to “the man.”  For some people, that translates into spending a ton of free time porting Linux to devices that were never designed for it. 

This is one of the things that always amazes me when I read about the latest high-tech devices that been modified to run Linux.  Some of these implementations may be incomplete, and I’m not sure why someone would take a brand new device and risk bricking it…

Ok, I lied - I nearly bricked my iPhone last night in the process of updating to the latest firmware version… about a month after a working hack was available.  Something about being the first person to try out the latest hack on a $400 dollar device just doesn’t seem appealing to me.

Here’s a short list of devices that make unlikely with Linux.  Enjoy!

1. AppleTV:  http://www.mactel-linux.org/wiki/AppleTV
2. Browser: http://www.workspot.com/screenshots/gimp.html
3. Gmail: http://www.hackaday.com/2005/04/14/run-linux-on-gmail/
4. GameCube: http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/04/01/warp_pipe.html
5. Dreamcast: http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7466555948.html
6. HTC Smartphones: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Xanadux
7. iPod: http://ipodlinux.org/Main_Page
8. Mainframes: http://parisc-linux.org/
9. Palm PDAs: http://palmtelinux.sourceforge.net/
10. PS2: http://playstation2-linux.com/
11. Edit:  MSN TV2 http://www.toc2rta.com/index.php/?q=node/2
12. PSP: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1906893,00.asp
13. Edit: JuiceBox:  http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/02/run_linux_on_a_juicebox.html
14. Edit:  Mac Classic:  http://mac.linux-m68k.org/
15. Wii:  http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Main_Page
16. Windows: http://wubi-installer.org/
    http://goodbye-microsoft.com/ 
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/instlux/
17. Wireless Routers: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation http://hyperwrt.org/ 
18. Xbox: http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/linux-install.php 
19. Xbox360: http://www.free60.org/wiki/Main_Page

Last but not least, a toaster:  http://pics.defcon.org/showphoto.php?photo=53&cat=512

I showed you mine, now you get to show me yours!  What would you like to see running Linux?

Edit… PS3, VirtualPC and USB drives were removed.

Here’s another for you all… Your Mom Can Run Linux: http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-08-03-032-26-OP-DT