If you’ve ever doubted my geek credentials, shame on you. You need look no further than this site to witness my insane devotion to all things sad and nerdy. For further proof, observe!
An Amiga on the Internet. Running the DS port of ScummVM. A Sinclair QL print server. An Xbox-based media centre. A rarely-updated blog with a backend written from scratch. Past projects, undertaken with minimal good reason, all.
And now, I’ve fallen for the ultimate geek affliction, the desire to run Linux in strange places. Thanks to the DS Linux project, it’s possible to surf the web, listen to stuttery MP3s, configure your wireless network connection and admittedly not do much else, all in the kind of user-friendly environment that only a command-line interface driven by an onscreen keyboard can provide.
Be still my beating heart!
Honestly, Linux DS is extremely impressive. Shoehorning the Linux kernel and a useful amount of the core functionality into the paltry 4MB of RAM available is a great achievement. But unlike ScummVM DS, it’s difficult to see the point of the project. Although I find it difficult to understand the desire geeky types have to attempt these difficult and ultimately doomed projects, my own track record indicates I know exactly what drives them. Tinkering is fun, no matter how pointless the end result. Sadly!
You’ve crossed the final geek frontier. You’ll be changing your name by deed poll to ‘linus’ next.
A DS Lite no less! You can’t have even had it that long and already you’ve dismissed the games and decided exactly what Nintendo intended the device to be used for.
The XBox Media Center is the BUSINESS.
Comment By: Ryan Williams
Saturday 9th September 2006 | 01:19
Hee, well done. I have to admit, I also have a slight fascination with things being made to run in places they clearly weren’t intended. For example, if someone told me I could run an internet browser on my MICROWAVE (don’t even speculate), I’d be all “?!”.