PDA

View Full Version : An unexpected place to find Linux


TravisNewman
April 25th, 2005, 08:24 PM
The other day we were in the mall, and walking past one of those do-it-yourself photo booths-- I happened to glance in, and the screen where you see yourself and select all the options, etc, was at a grub boot prompt for RedHat, though the only entry in the grub menu was Ubuntu Linux 4.10. Now first off, why would you install Ubuntu over redhat and not change the grub menu? But still-- great that they're using Ubuntu to take people's pictures, but not so great that it was the middle of the day and it had crashed. There were power failures due to storms that day, but to joe public, it looks like it's crashed.
Brunellus
April 25th, 2005, 11:02 PM
joe public doesn't even know or care what ubuntu is enough to form a negative opinion of it based on such a trifling exposure.
TravisNewman
April 25th, 2005, 11:10 PM
yeah, that part was a joke :)
kanem
April 25th, 2005, 11:13 PM
so did you start it up? Not that you could log in of course, but maybe the gdm theme looked nice.
TravisNewman
April 25th, 2005, 11:17 PM
hehe- no. Didn't want to tamper will mall equipment. Besides, there's no keyboard, so I don't know how. I guess there's one inside that you have to unlock it to get to? Who knows.
poofyhairguy
April 25th, 2005, 11:53 PM
The funny thing about Linux is that people will use it and not even know. Routers, cell phone, probably things like iFridges in the future.
HungSquirrel
April 26th, 2005, 12:04 AM
Not to mention the countless web, email, DNS, etc. servers they connect to that happen to be running Linux. Sure, many run Solaris and Windows (eeew), but certainly a good portion are on Linux.
scottlc
April 26th, 2005, 12:07 AM
The drive through timer in my local KFC runs Linux.
stoneguy
April 26th, 2005, 01:52 AM
There's been some recent publicity about Pioneer gas stations (Canadian) switching to Linux for their POS terminals. This past weekend driving through SW Ontario, Sweetie noticed that the gas at those outlets was 3 cents a litre cheaper than at Esso. I told her that was because Pioneer didn't have to pay the Microsoft tax :grin:
23meg
April 26th, 2005, 02:01 AM
i've seen linux running in some supermarket POS machines over here as well. i've also been to an internet cafe where Fedora 2 was running on all machines, and i surprisedly observed that the joe publics around didn't have any trouble with it.
23meg
April 26th, 2005, 02:02 AM
and how about linux running on an ipod? --> http://ipodlinux.sourceforge.net/
poofyhairguy
April 26th, 2005, 02:23 AM
i've seen linux running in some supermarket POS machines over here as well. i've also been to an internet cafe where Fedora 2 was running on all machines, and i surprisedly observed that the joe publics around didn't have any trouble with it.


Sure. All you have to do is replace Firefox's icon with IEs.
jerome bettis
April 26th, 2005, 02:41 AM
i was at this bar one time a little early when they were just opening up. i was sitting next to one of those video poker machines, and the guy plugged it in and red hat started up on it. i thought it was amusing ... but my friends just thought i was a dork.
TravisNewman
April 26th, 2005, 03:07 AM
Lowe's Hardware runs "Lowe's Linux" on all their machines. I know this because I saw them booting up one morning. Further research shows that it's based on RedHat, but tweaked specifically for what they need.
UbuWu
April 26th, 2005, 01:17 PM
The entertainment system in the boeing 777 (or 767 or something like that) runs linux. I noticed this last year when I was flying from Amsterdam to New York in the summer. It is really nice, you can choose a movie you want to see or music you want to listen to and you can play games with other passengers. Too bad my one crashed halfway through a movie, but then it came up again showing a penguin and a lot of cryptic stuff :grin:
Stormy Eyes
April 26th, 2005, 03:50 PM
I've seen Red Hat running on Burlington Coat Factory's POS terminals.
BWF89
April 26th, 2005, 06:03 PM
Lowes Home Improvement (or however it's spelt) runs some Linux distro. Atleast the one near me does.
TravisNewman
April 26th, 2005, 09:55 PM
Lowes Home Improvement (or however it's spelt) runs some Linux distro. Atleast the one near me does.
hehe. Look a few posts up BFW:
"Lowe's Hardware runs "Lowe's Linux" on all their machines. I know this because I saw them booting up one morning. Further research shows that it's based on RedHat, but tweaked specifically for what they need"
;)
jfdill_2
April 27th, 2005, 05:28 AM
hehe- no. Didn't want to tamper will mall equipment. Besides, there's no keyboard, so I don't know how. I guess there's one inside that you have to unlock it to get to? Who knows.
I've been doing a little kiosk stuff lately but Winblows unfortunately, and yeah the keyboard is probably locked inside the cabinet. But it could be wireless. The kiosk I'm working on has a touchscreen, but that doesn't work at the BIOS level, you have to have the system booted up.

Me, I'm the commando repair guy. I probably wouldn't mess with a commercial kiosk, but at the public library I get crashed PCs back up and running when no one is looking--the catalog is all web-based anyway, seems to me that would be a great application for running a Linux Live CD instead.
davahmet
April 27th, 2005, 05:52 AM
Was at a friend's house just a few days ago when he made the statement that "Microsoft is King for good reason and Linux will never find a place in his home." While he said this, I was staring at his Linksys WRT54GS router. I just didn't have the heart to tell him.
poofyhairguy
April 27th, 2005, 05:57 AM
Was at a friend's house just a few days ago when he made the statement that "Microsoft is King for good reason and Linux will never find a place in his home." While he said this, I was staring at his Linksys WRT54GS router. I just didn't have the heart to tell him.


VERY funny. You should have, its not like he'll throw it away.
TravisNewman
April 27th, 2005, 06:14 AM
Oh you TOTALLY should have. Definitely. Or maybe explained to him that the website loaded on his computer is probably on a Linux server. Or that whenever he sends an email it's most likely going through a Linux server.
Adrenal
April 27th, 2005, 01:07 PM
Oh you TOTALLY should have. Definitely. Or maybe explained to him that the website loaded on his computer is probably on a Linux server. Or that whenever he sends an email it's most likely going through a Linux server.
Linux will defeat Microsoft, not through a war, but through getting in through the cracks, slowly being installed on computers, one by one.
It is...enivitable
..enivitable
ENIVITABLE. OPEN YOUR DAMN EARS
Jenda
April 27th, 2005, 09:26 PM
They call it ENLIGHTENED CUSTOMER CHOICE....

indeed inevitable...

the road is long, though....

and painful...

and Evil will do it's best at slowing us down...

(In the land of Redmond, where the shadows lie)
Rule
April 28th, 2005, 12:25 AM
Was at a friend's house just a few days ago when he made the statement that "Microsoft is King for good reason and Linux will never find a place in his home." While he said this, I was staring at his Linksys WRT54GS router. I just didn't have the heart to tell him.

WOW! I didn't know that..now i'm really really glad I bought one :D