Linux released for Xbox

Programming group the Xbox Linux Project has released the first complete Linux distribution for the Microsoft Xbox games console. The group claims that by installing its Xbox Linux Mandrake, the Xbox can be used for office applications, the Internet, e-mail, Linux games, or as a web, file or database server. Xbox Linux will only run on modified Xbox consoles, and requires users to connect a USB keyboard and mouse to the console via a special adapter.

A 350 MB installation CD of Xbox Linux Mandrake 9 is available for download from the Xbox Linux website. It corresponds to a standard installation of the Mandrake Linux distribution, so it contains the graphical environments Gnome and KDE, as well as software packages such as OpenOffice.org, XMMS and Mozilla.

The XboxLinux Project claims that since Xbox Linux Mandrake 9 is 100% compatible with Mandrake Linux 9, and that all additional packages from the official Mandrake Linux 9 installation CDs or the Mandrake website can be installed into Xbox Mandrake Linux.

Unsurprisingly Microsoft disapproves of the modification of the Xbox, and has recently reconfigured the Xbox hardware to make modchips harder to fit, and taken legal action against the manufacturers and suppliers of modchips.

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