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Smallest Linux computer

picotux.com — Picotux...worlds smallest computer

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  • cshaaban, on 03/12/2008, -28/+11"Processor speed: 55 MHz." Is it really worth it?
    • matx, on 03/12/2008, -1/+36This isn't exactly going to be running your desktop linux system. This kind of device would be more suited in a control system. These sort of devices don't need fast processing, the the size is handy.
    • cshaaban, on 03/12/2008, -2/+5That makes a lot more sense.
    • ElAssoWipo, on 03/12/2008, -1/+37That's good enough to play wolfenstein 3D. My first PC was 55 mhz, cost $2,500.

      Omg found the system requirement for wolfenstein 3d:
      80286 class CPU, 640 kB RAM
    • alanr19, on 03/12/2008, -23/+8Yeah because to like... browse the web and do some word processing you're gonna need a top of the line system. 3GHz octo-core, 5 bongobytes of ram etc.. At least that what the nice salesman in Best Buy told me.

      [end sarcasm]
      A 55MHz machine, with the right software, could slaughter a top of the line Windows Vista Intel box on certain tasks.
      Microsoft software should not be judged as the benchmark by which all other software is judged.
      • Stupidumb, on 03/12/2008, -5/+19What the ***** are you talking about?
      • alex7575, on 03/12/2008, -4/+24Stupidumb's comment is smarter than yours.
      • CC440, on 03/12/2008, -4/+10There is no 55mhz processor that can make anything outperform vista running on a modern chipset.

        However I do believe that you could use this thing with a super small web browser and email client, but at thaqt point you should just use your cell phone or iPod size mobile device of some sort.
        • alanr19, on 03/12/2008, -3/+11This computer kicks vistas ass in networking.
      • blankhorizons, on 03/12/2008, -2/+5Are you high? I run Linux on all of my non-apple hardware and OS X on my Macs, but even I wouldn't reach that far for a burn on MS.
      • newwatch51, on 03/12/2008, -2/+355mhz is as much as a cell phone or a Intel chip from 1989. You can't much with that.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_i860
        • ism70605, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2Pretty much the fastest chip in 1989 was about 16mhz for the 486. That article you linked to clearly states that it it didn't achieve 50mhz until the mid 90s. Cells phones run at 55mhz in 1989? You are aware those things were analog. I really don't think they had a CPU. The only thing that may have been 55mhz was the signal. But then again we could produce some pretty heft radiation back then too in 10ghz range.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I486
      • DrDabbles, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1...working with and on embedded systems, you're an idiot. This kind of device gets embedded into things like sprinkler systems, doors, windows, etc. They are used to add a bit of intelligence into otherwise dumb items- so, for instance, a sprinkler system that checks the weather from NOAA before watering your lawn.

        Moreover, this 55MHz chip would NOT beat a modern Intel chip at ANY task. Before you say something that dumb again, try doing a little research. Do you know what architecture the chip is? How about what kind of bus it uses to talk to memory? What's the memory clock rate? Is there on-die cache for the CPU? An RTC? What about an MMU? All these impact performance in one way or another.
    • blankhorizons, on 03/12/2008, -10/+4wrong reply, dgg down
    • charlietuna, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4Well, if you were a gamer, I guess it could run a mean game of curses based pacman.
    • falafelkiosken, on 03/12/2008, -1/+2it's faster than my TI calculator
    • themastersb, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2I'm assuming the pins in between the monitor connector and the RJ45 are for USB?
      • mossblaser, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Its a serial connector - you use this thing with a serial terminal.
    • CryRightardCry, on 03/13/2008, -1/+0That's a huge amount of power if you aren't caught up in Microsoft Bloat.
  • jake6730, on 03/12/2008, -4/+33If only they were cheaper, I could see spending $20 max. This would be super cool if it weren't so expensive.
    • dinostabOMG, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3I didn't see a price on there, how much is it?
      • Kraemahz, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6Price: 100 - 200 EUR in order information.
        • Gavagai80, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5100 EUR = $153 USD. Since my handheld N770 with a processor five times as fast cost $82, I'll pass. Though since the site died, I don't know what exactly I'm passing on.
        • gplpark92, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1N800 is better
        • redxxx, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1N810 is too good damn much for crappy GPS and a ***** keyboard.
    • danimals, on 03/12/2008, -1/+2i see a mini speaker.... im guessing the only purpose would be to create that annoying beep. urhghh!!!!
  • Pete0430, on 03/12/2008, -4/+91Overclock that bad boy to get a whopping 60 mhz, you'll have the baddest RJ45 connection in town
  • lukas88, on 03/12/2008, -18/+103Can it run crysis?
    • Shootfast, on 03/12/2008, -1/+24Yes but only without AA
    • D0m0kun, on 03/12/2008, -2/+20No. But it CAN play pong on a color monitor.
    • jerrycan, on 03/12/2008, -1/+51Yes, 1 fpm frame per month)
    • BLOODSUCKER, on 03/12/2008, -2/+3and only twice at once
    • tetfsu, on 03/12/2008, -1/+14get 3040000 of them together into a neural network each one responsible for drawing it's own pixel on the screen (@1900x1600 res) and Crysis would SCREAM
      • gplpark92, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2meh lacks 2 or more cores and a front side bus
    • mGARANDEUR1, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1It definitely would. You only really need 30Mhz to play any modern computer games.
      • Pfkninenines, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Don't know about you, but I'd enjoy playing the game in the course of a day, not a millennium.
    • MxM111, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2Yes, and at stable 30 fps (at resolution 3x2 pixels and 4-bit monochrome)
    • unrealmp3, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1If you put DirectX 10, no, but on DirectX 9 why not.
  • caponumen, on 03/12/2008, -3/+2Very cool.....
  • provost, on 03/12/2008, -2/+16the power brick is probably 5 times the size of the thing.
    I would love to see these things clustered.. they would basically just dangle from the switches that they are plugged into.
    • mugicha, on 03/12/2008, -0/+11Yeah, they should totally make a Beowulf cluster of these.
    • CC440, on 03/12/2008, -0/+10It can run off the power from the ethernet connection according to the site, which is absolutely insane, thinking about how little power is running through that.
      • MikeSD34, on 03/12/2008, -0/+13What they're referring to is Power over Ethernet, PoE, which can supply about 13 watts to this device. That's more than enough to supply a couple ARM CPUs.

        Edit: The device draws 3.3 volts @ 250 mA
      • MikeSD34, on 03/12/2008, -0/+9I should clarify that PoE is not existing latent energy on the line, but power injected into the line specifically for this use. There are PoE switches which do this automatically, as well as injectors / receivers for adapting non PoE devices. It's similar to how non-cordless phones can work even though they don't have their own separate power supply. Power is purposefully injected into the line to power the device. We use it at the office to power our VOIP based phones, but it has other uses as well.
    • IndigoMoss, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3It can run off of a PoE from what I understand, a lot like outdoor wireless Ethernet bridges.
    • gahal, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I have a wireless relay that pulls 18 watts PoE. The RJ45 on it is provides 100mb for data and, 48v for power at the same time. (happens to be an outdoor one just like IndigoMoss mentioned)
      The power brick for it is really small, and is also a small switch as well.
  • oreo2123, on 03/12/2008, -17/+28 mb of ram??? what the hell am i supposed to do with that???
    • sputnike, on 03/12/2008, -3/+5It has more RAM than Flash Memory... Interesting... Although Imagine a billion of these hooked up running a tiny distro of linux, and ddosing a site. Hmm.
      • mitch37, on 03/12/2008, -0/+15I imagine 100 billion dollars. Hmm.
    • CC440, on 03/12/2008, -2/+6Run Crysis, duh....
    • sonicomega, on 03/12/2008, -7/+2You got only 8mb? Blow it out your ass!
    • Gavagai80, on 03/12/2008, -0/+13I recall doing word processing, 3-D gaming, programming and more on 8MB RAM (386DX, 25 MHz). Spoiled kids these days...
    • psykiv, on 03/12/2008, -1/+7640k ought to be enough for anybody?
    • dbalaski, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4Hey --
      The amount of ram in my first Computers were in tens of K (yes K not M ) -- which made my setups Leet!

      You don't need a lot of ram to write/run good programs
      Especially if the OS is efficient...


      • ploop, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3I do real work with 2K of RAM in microcontrollers nowadays.
  • D0m0kun, on 03/12/2008, -6/+11I suppose this goes to show that the first quantum computers, with all their mechanics fitting on a the tip of a needle, will have their aw-inspiring elegance blocked by giant flashing Ethernet jacks and VGA ports.
    • mitch37, on 03/12/2008, -11/+10RTFA. Its serial not VGA.
      • D0m0kun, on 03/12/2008, -5/+11ZOMG!!1 I mistook a 9-pin male connector for a 9-pin female connector. Should I even make an attempt to continue living if I must bear the weight of such ineptitude upon my shoulders?

        Way to entirely miss a joke.
        • matx, on 03/12/2008, -8/+3you need to use the /joke or /sarcasm tag here
        • kooft, on 03/12/2008, -7/+10VGA is 15-pin and female (on the MB side). Please tell me you know the difference between male and female... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

          It's not that the joke was missed rather, you tried to make a technical one while getting the details wrong.
          • amirman, on 03/12/2008, -1/+7no, the point was that while the computer mechanisms get smaller the ports will still exist and ruin the 'elegance" of such a small computer. who cares what ***** jack it is. it totally flew over your head.
        • alex7575, on 03/12/2008, -6/+4You need to quit while you're not too behind...
    • sonicomega, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6ROTFLMAO that was great. Giant flashing ports. LOL
    • drgmdp, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3i find ports beautiful
  • Ockniel, on 03/12/2008, -11/+3Where do you plug in the mouse/keyboard?
    • t3hbagel, on 03/12/2008, -3/+14You obviously aren't too computer-savvy.

      A serial port is all you need, man! Hyper Terminal FTW! Where all my null modem users at!?
  • incd, on 04/18/2008, -1/+13A neat DHCP server. Or an adorable apache2 cluster (obviously you need couple these for a cluster) for LAN or a traffic shaper.
  • zetec, on 03/12/2008, -0/+32These could make great little intrusion devices. Imagine finding a network, plugging one of these in, and walking away for a few hours while they try to find the machine shutting down their network. you could even hide it in a light fixture if they have overhead cabling.
    • freexe, on 03/12/2008, -0/+7i don't think that they would ever find something that small, they would probably just unplug the cable
      • CrazyDave303, on 03/12/2008, -0/+7Some IT staff I've had the displeasure to work under their rules with their set ups, are not smart enough to figure out where every cable is plugged in to, or where it should be.
    • t3hbagel, on 03/12/2008, -12/+1How exactly would you take down a network with one of these? Do you plan on SSHing into it? And if so, how would you even know what its IP is?!

      NONE OF IT MAKES SENSE, MAN!
      • nbcaffeine, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3software the phones home upon bootup
        • enicholas, on 03/12/2008, -4/+2Which would only work if the company was stupid enough to have a DHCP server handing out IP addresses to any old MAC address.

          I've never worked at a company with such a lax network policy.
        • CrazyDave303, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2Most companies have no or little security in place. There is about 10-20 open WiFi points I can find from the basement of the office tower I work in. Some of them I am able to find a LOT of files shared to any one. I even thought it would be fun to get in to net works around the city and print Adds off on their printers, or fake head office notices or some thing.

          If you don't work for company that their job is computers themselves, then the systems are always installed with tons of security holes.
      • MikeSD34, on 03/12/2008, -0/+7Packet storm, excessive multicast traffic, setup another authoritative DHCP server, allocate all available IP addresses from the pre-existing DHCP server. There are plenty of ideas...
    • zorinlynx, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4It would take me about two minutes to find the device and disable the port on the switch that it's plugged into. Then I'd go digging around for the actual physical device and have a fun new toy to play with. Thanks!
  • tabularassa, on 03/12/2008, -4/+56I wonder what's the Windows Vista Experience Index on that
  • tuzziel, on 03/12/2008, -0/+555 Mhz is not that slow as it may seam, Zilogs in ZX-Spectrum have 3.5Mhz CPU and 48KB of RAM and you could explore the whole Galaxy in 3D graphics using those...

    Here comes the proof:

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekplay.cgi?ti ...
    • Strawgate, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1A better example would be 3D games on my 9 Mhz calculator.
      • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+19mhz? You must have had it good. Us TI-82 programmers had a Zilog 80 running at 4.14mhz with 32k of combined RAM/storage, a monochrome 96x64 LCD. And there were great games available. Zelda and Mario clones, even some 3D. Wasn't great, but a lot better than you'd think. Even shades of gray achieved by page flipping between 1 and 3 pages of gray art with white. Those were the days.
      • bj1989, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1You can play doom on that!
    • alanr19, on 03/12/2008, -5/+7True, just because Windows needs many many MHz to gets its fat ass to do anything doesnt mean its not possible with other quality OS/software stacks.
      • aaabatteries, on 03/12/2008, -3/+9Windows is not the only operating system with bloat...
  • alanr19, on 03/12/2008, -11/+2Worlds smallest computer? *****. A few years ago I read about a web server that was about the size of a matchhead.
    • revjustin2, on 03/12/2008, -0/+23A few years ago I read that Justin Timberlake was bringing sexy back. Now I ask you this: where's my sexy at?
      • AwesomeAndy, on 03/12/2008, -0/+8He didn't say he was bringing it to YOU.
    • ChayD, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4Someone made a web server using an SMD pic12c509 (or one of the little 8 pin jobs), and an 8 pin serial eeprom, thing is that it only had a serial connection, and needed something to convert the SLIP packets to something more useable, like ethernet (they used a PC for this, I think). /geekfact
    • FHLukifer, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1Did you hear this on rumors.com?
    • selrahc, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3"A few years ago I read about a web server that was about the size of a matchhead."

      Link?
    • mGARANDEUR1, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1That wouldn't be that hard to make. You can fit 2,000 45nm gates across the width of a human hair.
  • Stupidumb, on 03/12/2008, -2/+46This would be great to create a swarm of tiny intelligent robots to like, I dunno...fight your enemies. Listen, the point is: robots.
    • hotpuck6, on 03/12/2008, -4/+5I for one, welcome our new tiny robot overlords.
    • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Something in the gumstix line might be a little better suited. Almost the same size, but with tons of expansion options... even on-board bluetooth or wifi. There's even a specialized robostix expansion board for dealing with servo motors and higher voltages / tolerances. Pretty sweet, and affordable too. They run linux 2.6.something on 400-600mhz ARM platforms.

      I always wanted to build a self-guided robo-copter that could drop anchor on flat surfaces like rooftops and extend solar panels to charge itself, and use GPS to remember where good "sun spots" where, and maybe communicate home with pictures over GPRS/EDGE. It'd be awesome to see how far it could get before being damaged / captured / misidentified as terrorism. Not enough hours in the day.
    • LightningCount, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1I also enjoy Jack Handey.
  • exomni, on 03/12/2008, -12/+3Actually the computer in my watch is smaller.

    Buried as inaccurate.
    • mr1337, on 03/12/2008, -0/+12Your watch runs Linux?

      Good luck putting an ethernet port on that.
      • exomni, on 03/12/2008, -2/+1When did I say it ran linux? The submission claimed "Picotux...worlds smallest computer". It's not the world's smallest computer. It very well may be the world's smallest linux-running computer, but that's not what the description claimed.
        • mr1337, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1From the title: Smallest Linux computer
    • UKsHaDoW, on 03/12/2008, -1/+5But does it run Linux?
      • exomni, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1No. But the submission claimed "Picotux...worlds smallest computer". It's not the world's smallest computer. It very well may be the world's smallest linux-running computer, but that's not what the description claimed.
    • redbluemangle, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4can you connect remotely to your watch with with ssh?
      • Sikarian, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1I've got a 2gb flash drive watch from ThinkGeek with a linux distro installed. Mind you I still need to plug it up to a box and boot off it, but theoretically I can remote to my watch with SSH.
        • mr1337, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2Even still, you're booting off of a USB flash drive on a normal computer, not your watch. Your watch just has some flash memory attached to it... Like a thumb drive that also tells time.
    • KenRay, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Can you say that your watch is better than Bill Gate's watch?
    • ploop, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2Your watch contains a microcontroller, not a computer. Let's see you use it for general calculation.
  • jacekpoplawski, on 03/12/2008, -1/+24It's too small to be dugg!
    Please mirror it on something bigger!
  • plizard, on 03/12/2008, -4/+8that could be a tight firewall

    yes, i said tight.
    • nbcaffeine, on 03/12/2008, -2/+5i would've +1ed you if you used "hella" instead
      • mr1337, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4that could be a hella tight firewall

        yes, i said hella tight.

        Fixed.
  • AppleGeorge, on 03/12/2008, -29/+5Linux sucks. Yep, I'm trolling and bitching about an OS I don't use. Probably because it sucks and the only reason half of the users on here use Linux and are so into it is because it's not Windows.
    • AppleGeorge, on 03/12/2008, -13/+2Yes, dugg down for talking ***** about an OS that sucks.
      • andycr512, on 03/12/2008, -2/+8Perhaps if you actually provided some evidence to back up your claim and stated that it was your opinion. Here, I'll give you an example:

        "In my opinion, Linux sucks. The X window system needs to be redesigned to better take advantage of multiple monitors."

        There, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?
        • powatom, on 03/12/2008, -1/+7Trolls. Do not feed!
        • AppleGeorge, on 03/12/2008, -7/+1Very good. Now perhaps you should take an English class to actually understand when and when not to use a comma.
          • andycr512, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5A look at the more lengthy posts I make will eliminate any uncertainty of my grasp of the English language. You, on the other hand, are best known for making promptly-buried one-liners with little time given to thought, and perhaps to grammar as well.
          • ploop, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6IRONY.
      • santaliqueur, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5Being dugg down for being a troll. Shouldn't you be swearing at one of us or calling someone a retard by now?

        http://www.neaveru.com/digg/stats/applegeorge/max_ ...
        • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1He's probably a Cowboys fan. They can be hard to communicate with. Never heard of that tool you linked to, good stuff.
  • jacekpoplawski, on 03/12/2008, -4/+2Oh it's so expensive (100+27 euro).
  • revjustin2, on 03/12/2008, -11/+6What's up with the "smallest PC running Linux" articles that pop-up on Digg every now and then? You never just see "smalled PC". You gotta throw in that Linux stuff to make it interesting? Is this like some kind of subculture of Linux users- Those Who Worship Itty Bitty Linux Machines? While I understand the power of miniaturization and the advantages of having nanobots running an open source OS, the combination of the two into one nerd fetish is a little...well, creepy.
    • Nebetsu, on 03/12/2008, -0/+9Generally you can't run windows on this kind of hardware without hacking apart the operating system.

      Actually: You can't run Linux on this kind of hardware without hacking apart the operating system either. Linux is just easier to do that with.
      • revjustin2, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I understand the utility. I just don't understand the fascination. This kind of thing pops up on digg a lot.
    • Jenadae, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3You think you're going to run anything else on that?
    • sporkit, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1The whole point is you could write custom software for the system and create interesting gadgets with it. I saw something like this used to write a program that helped a model helicopter pilot itself.
      • AwesomeAndy, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3You can do that from the ground up and probably have something even more efficient than Linux. He's right. Why does it matter that it's running Linux? It doesn't.
  • renegade420, on 03/12/2008, -7/+6I'll stick with my EeePC.
    • Nicksname1, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3Shirley, you must be joking!
      • Nicksname1, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4by renegade420:
        I am not joking and don't call me Shirley, I love my EeePC it makes me feel like a kid again.
        • blindmonkey, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2I'm positive that's a reference to somewhere.... What are you referencing?
        • renegade420, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I have Ubuntu Gusty Gibbon 7.10 installed on it... The EeePC rocks.
        • ThisIsBoldText, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3it's a reference to Airplane!

          I'm not excited, that is the name of the movie.
  • univerio, on 03/12/2008, -2/+12Anyone else feel sad that the ethernet and serial ports take up like half the space?
  • marpstar, on 03/12/2008, -3/+10server must be running on the picotux - down at 141 diggs
  • Nebetsu, on 03/12/2008, -2/+2mirror?
  • orirawlings, on 03/12/2008, -2/+1keyboard, mouse!? lol. that is what ssh is for. and that also means you don't need a monitor. And it gets power over ethernet, PoE. no huge power brick.
  • KezG, on 03/12/2008, -9/+1Does anyone know where the nearest McDonalds is?
  • ChayD, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Isn't that, like, one of those Lantronix Xport jacks that someone's ported Linux to, or a new product?
  • digitallysick, on 03/12/2008, -2/+955mhz? so thats equal to todays celeron

    /sarcasm
  • bschonec, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2This would be great for monitoring temperature, pressure, humidity or vibration. Do a few samples and send to a remote server. You could monitor your entire manufacturing plan.
    • jantman, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Looks like it would be wonderful for any monitoring application... how about a simple serial to ethernet connection for process monitoring or control... alarm systems... ethernet-enabled door locks... a new version of the web coffee maker???

      Or, for the rich geek out there... throw one of these in the bottom of every lamp in your house, then use a wireless Nokia tablet to control them...

      yes, does appear to be a re-branded version of the DigiConnect ME:
      http://www.digi.com/products/embeddedsolutions/dig ...
  • wacki, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1http://duggmirror.com
    http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:fH1ulmBJtGwJ: ...
  • dareyoutomove, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3did anyone else think of a Ghostbuster trap?
  • YourSexyMama, on 03/12/2008, -6/+1I'm impressed... Coming with 2gigs of flash memory and 8gigs of RAM... This little thing is going to be great for distributed computing.

  • neowolfwitch, on 03/12/2008, -0/+7Really old. This same thing resurfaces on Digg every few months. I'm pretty sure the Picotux has been around for at least 3 years.
    • rac1234, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3The date at the bottom of the specs page is 18.05.2005.
  • foodude, on 03/12/2008, -2/+5Is this thing hosting the article? It's down.
  • GelfTheElf, on 03/12/2008, -0/+21This was great when it was first on slashdot like 100 years ago :)
    Here is more info on a server that isn't crashing:

    http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6270733703.html

    With wireless!
    http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8386088053.html

    And the company that makes them and how to get your own development kit!
    http://www.digi.com/products/embeddedsolutions/dig ...
    • Pelapp, on 03/12/2008, -2/+13Thanks.
      And btw, typical Digg:

      "Can it run crysis?" = 34 Diggs
      Informative reply, including mirrors = -1
  • boredsam, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4more practical alternative: http://www.fit-pc.com

    It runs Windows and Linux, draws 3-5 Watts, 500 MHz Geode processor, 2 100mbps ethernet ports, and the notebook hard drive is the only moving part.
    • pjmalone, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2moving parts are so 2005
    • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1The device you link to would be more practical if you wanted to use the picotux as a desktop machine, or a server doing anything more than (conditionally) watching or collecting traffic, but doing either would unfortunately fall somewhere between retarded and impossible.
    • Slick42, on 03/12/2008, -0/+0I have one of these as home server with Win XP, It runs perfectly as NAT, Printer, Torrent and eMule Server. Really great because of it's low power consumption and noiselessness.
  • daxsymbiont, on 03/12/2008, -4/+1"picotux".

    ok, that's just silly. I demand you sieze this silliness or else. I enjoy a bit of silliness as much as the next guy but that's over the top. come to think of it, I don't know many that enjoy a bit of silliness less than me but that's besides the point.
    • tetfsu, on 03/12/2008, -1/+2"Sieze" (or seize in to those of us who care about spelling) this silliness?
      I think you mean cease, or are you hoping someone will go into convulsions?
  • pesil, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4Take that MacBook Air!
    • falafelkiosken, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1damn, all good jokes are taken :(
  • RoadWarriorX11, on 03/12/2008, -8/+1wow a screeching 55 mhz

    buried as lame
    • tomz17, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1For most of the killer applications where something this size could be used, a 55MHz processor is overkill!!!
    • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Buried as "can't comprehend the power of embedded devices."
  • radioshack7, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1More powerful alternative: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/artigo/

    Up to 1Gb ram. Has embedded 1Ghz processor. Runs any size ATA100 laptop PATA drive. Comes with 4 USB ports (Fit-PC has 2), power switch (Fit-PC doesn't) nice case and power supply. Also has additional cables for PS/2 mouse and keyboard, RS232 serial, and digital monitor. Also has 1 SATA port on the board.

    Downside - has CPU fan so it's not sealed like the Fit-PC and it only has one ETH port (Fit-PC has 2) Great for a browser PC for that new LCD or Plasma TV.
    • hamGrenade, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1pico-itx is made of win. i can't think of anything i'd want it for but they're just so damn cool.
    • mikeivanov, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Too expensive. You can find a comparable system for a half of their price.
  • shimbob, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1This is _absolutely PERFECT_ to combine with a serial->Laser link as shown here: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/7156/ ...
  • arkanoid, on 03/12/2008, -8/+1But....does it runs Vista?
  • bigsteve, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2I usually hate comments saying "This is old, lame, and old and lame!" but this was old when it made slashdot just days shy of 3 years ago. Digg, we can haz "Really Old" option in Bury drop down?

    Maybe I'm alone in hearing about this a long time ago, and everyone finds this fascinating. I guess that'd be nice too. It really is an amazing little device that does start the creative juices flowing about neat things like home automation, stealth jack replacement for packet sniffing espionage, mini inline firewalls you can carry with you for plugging into networks with unknown conditions, etc etc.
    • S1L3NTC, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Yeah. It's fun when read at the bottom of the page:

      Copyright © 2005 Kleinhenz Elektronik GmbH. All rights reserved.
  • MrMish, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2They should have put mini USB instead of serial, stick a hub on with a keyboard and LCD display and you've got a computer!
  • DestroyingAngel, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5It is not a PC. It is more a micro-controller dev kit. This isn't something new.
  • VentHere, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4Their site reminds me of "how to keep an idiot busy":

    A - For more information about B, click here.
    B - For more information about A, click here.
  • tendonut, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3But will it blend?
  • nickotine, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1Better than the MacBook Air, the MacAddr's got an ethernet port :-)
  • thetacticus, on 03/12/2008, -1/+0I have an eeepc, it is pretty awesome...but i dont think it can compare in size to this thing. I wish it was cheaper. It would be good for network management on the go.
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