Asus to embed Linux into all motherboards | Hacker News Reader

Asus to embed Linux into all motherboards

news.zdnet.co.uk

27 pointsfoemmel12 comments

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.

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.

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

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!"

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.

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?

It may not be all that useful to you or me, but it would be all my wife and youngest son need. I would count it as a big plus in a purchasing decision.

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.

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.

I'm not sure I'm convinced of this, in the case of Asus (or Gigabyte or Intel, who have sponsored some LinuxBIOS/Coreboot projects in the past). Asus, with their Eee PC, are striking out into delightfully new territory, and an instant on feature would be a pretty killer thing. Traditional BIOS makes that impossible, because it's so damned slow and changing it is, as you note, practically impossible.

But just because the BIOS software companies (who are, on the whole, separate from the motherboard manufactures) don't want to rewrite their software, it doesn't mean some motherboard manufacturer won't jump ship one day. In fact, I would argue that it's inevitable, if the BIOS manufacturers don't get their act together fast--people are beginning to expect a completely different experience from their devices. The iPhone and similar devices are training people that real computers can turn on instantly and be ready for work in seconds. No reason PCs can't be similarly fast to boot.

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.

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

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