Asus to embed Linux into all motherboards

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39418766,00.htm

by foemmel • 18 years ago

27 12 18 years ago

news.zdnet.co.uk

This is a stupid PR stunt. Linux is great and all (using it now), but everything has its place. Just as it doesn't make sense to bundle 31 Cents ice cream with all Nike shoes, it doesn't make sense to stuff Linux down all motherboards. There's a time and a place for everything; and adding features we don't need to products is just going to drive their price up, increase their complexity (and vulnerability).

Oh, and the penguin inside me is screaming "Score another one for the good guys!"

jpeterson• 18 years ago

But aren't there actually cases where a user would want the ability to have an "instant on" web-browser, email client, etc. without having to load a full OS? Seems like a nice feature to me.

ComputerGuru2• 18 years ago

I felt strongly enough about this to post a reply as an article: http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/asus-linux-whether-you-need-it...

Bottom-line: You're going to be loading your full OS when you come to work in the morning anyway.... How often are you going to need your Skype and you're PC isn't already on, running your full OS?

SwellJoe2• 18 years ago

This article doesn't really make it clear, but I suspect (hope) they are entirely replacing the old BIOS with Linux (see http://www.coreboot.org/ ), which means something far more important than merely having a micro-Linux available "instantly". It also means that the BIOS boot time is reduced dramatically. Going from zero to running a full OS (whether it's Windows or a full-blown Linux) will be faster...possibly shaving minutes off of the boot time (but usually only 30 seconds to a minute).

The closer to instant-on PCs become, the more likely people are to shut them off when they walk away, which is great for the environment. It's also great for HTPCs to allow them to be more like traditional DVD players and VCRs.

The micro-Linux is just a funny side effect of replacing the cranky old slow 2 stroke BIOS with a new jet engine. It's about damned time the BIOS gets an overhaul, and since Linux already has most of the device detection and setup that a motherboard needs (or can have it added with no more pain than the BIOS, which have code bases that are reportedly extremely difficult to work with) why not?

The article isn't very clear, however, so I can't be sure the old BIOS isn't lurking beneath the surface just waiting for a "full boot" to kick in.

wmf• 18 years ago

Dream on. I have dealt with the BIOS world, and if it ain't completely broken they won't touch it. They aren't even willing to adopt EFI.

Xichekolas• 18 years ago

I was also reading this hoping they were talking about coreboot (or LinuxBIOS as I knew it), but the entire pitch was for a browser and skype in the bios. Am I the only one that doesn't want to flash my bios every time my browser has an update?

I could see it maybe making sense for true appliance PCs, but you make special mobos for those anyway... no need to stick a browser in every mobo you make.

There are lots of reasons that I'd like to see things like coreboot succeed, but having Firefox in my bios isn't one of them.

AndyKelley• 18 years ago

Just think of all the things you can do if you only have a web browser today. Now think of all the things you can probably do if you only have a web browser is 5 years. Not such a bad idea, eh? Goes along with this: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/09/18.html

babul2• 18 years ago

You have to remember not everyone is technically savvy and for the masses who want 'instant-on' computing this will appeal.

babul2• 18 years ago

The boards may even turn out to be useful in ways we cannot forsee yet. I for one am already considering its uses in a PVR solution I am builing.

soundsop• 18 years ago

An OS in ROM? The Amiga 500 memories come flooding back.

I guess Linux is stored in re-writable nonvolatile memory so that it can be updated when the inevitable security bugs are found.

If I remember correctly, on the Amiga, you had to boot from floppy disk (not everything was in ROM), and the ROM code was transferred from ROM to RAM and any patches on the floppy disk were then applied.

Asus to embed Linux into all motherboards

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