Small Linux desktop

Hi Everyone:

An interesting development.

Tony

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Tiny Linux computer aims at terminal/kiosk users
By Phil Hochmuth

IT administrators who need to deploy and manage very
small desktop or kiosk-style PCs may want to keep an
eye on the development of Linutop.

The gadget, about the size of a portable CD player, is
an embedded Linux PC without a hard disk. It has four
USB2 ports, for connecting a mouse, PC, keyboard and
other devices (such as a USB Wi-Fi adapter, storage
stick, etc.), and an integrated 100Mbps Ethernet port
and VGA video output. Microphone and headphone jacks
are also built in. The box itself runs AMD’s
embedded Geode processor, with 256MB of memory, and
512MB of ROM, for storing the operating system image
and applications.

As for software, Linutop offers more than a bare-bones
terminal or Web kiosk. The Firefox Web browser,
AbiWord word processor, Gaim instant messenger client,
as well as PDF reader and media player applications
are bundled with the hardware. According to reports,
the device uses the IceWM windows manager — a
compact Linux graphical user environment targeted at
kiosk-style and embedded applications.

The biggest selling point for the Linutop is its size:
around 6 inches long, an inch tall and 3 inches deep.
What hurts the device’s chances for success is
the cost: at around $360 (or 280 Euros), Linux
administrators might be better off finding some old
laptops on an auction Web site and loading a package
such as Linux Terminal Server Project, for
stripped-down diskless desktop computing.

Linutop, developed by a small company in France, says
production of the gadget will begin this month, with
availability expected in the second quarter of 2007.
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Received on Wed Jan 10 13:29:21 2007