Search Members Help

» Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]

Mini-ITX Boards Sale, Fanless BareBones Mini-ITX, Bootable 1G DSL USBs, 533MHz Fanless PC <-- SALE $200 each!
Get The Official Damn Small Linux Book. DSL Market , Great VPS hosting provided by Tektonic
Pages: (2) </ [1] 2 >/

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

reply to topic new topic new poll
Topic: Hand-cranked linux laptops, cheap laptops for the third world< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Delboy Offline





Group: Members
Posts: 144
Joined: Nov. 2003
Posted: Nov. 23 2005,13:14 QUOTE

Check this link out:

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

The MIT came up with this laptop idea powered by a winding handle (like Trevor Bayliss' earlier 'clockwork radio') and will be manufacturing it too.  I read about this in an article in the British Independent newspaper where it said it will have a 500mhz processor and Linux OS. loaded for full internet / wifi connection - a suitable candidate for DSL linux perhaps?
Back to top
Profile PM 
mikshaw Offline





Group: Members
Posts: 4856
Joined: July 2004
Posted: Nov. 23 2005,16:33 QUOTE

It probably would be, although for the moment they are not planning to make it available commercially.  There may also be some issues with hardware support, but i have no idea what sort of hardware it will have.  With the "USB ports galore", it should at least be expandable.

In any case, I think it would be great fun to have access to one of these things.  I'd like to hook it up to a bicycle.


--------------
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
John Offline





Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 697
Joined: Sep. 2003
Posted: Dec. 11 2005,02:45 QUOTE

I emailed them and asked if they were familiar with DSL. I think the odds are good that they will run some variation of Redhat because RH is a corporate sponsor.  Still, they seem like they would just be made for a Frugal install of DSL.
Back to top
Profile PM 
doobit Offline





Group: Members
Posts: 912
Joined: July 2005
Posted: Dec. 13 2005,14:22 QUOTE

I think one thing DSL needs for a project like this is more language support. I noticed they will be distributing in a few third world countries to start with.

--------------
"Help stop internet piracy...use Linux!"
Back to top
Profile PM WEB MSN 
dare2dreamer Offline





Group: Members
Posts: 113
Joined: Feb. 2005
Posted: Dec. 13 2005,21:22 QUOTE

According to several news sources I've seen, the project does intend to have both a commercial and an educational version available. The laptops will be identical, except that the educational units will be in bright colors to set them apart from the more publicly available consumer units.

Speculation runs rampant as to the final facts on this, but the general consensus is that the consumer version will likely cost 200-300, with the additional cost going to fund a laptop for a child.

I've vowed to make it my next laptop purchase. The idea of a CF booting laptop is everything I need (for DSL or in general) and the idea that a portion of my purchase price directly funds children's education is too good to pass up.

While they are slated to run with a customized version of Redhat, I see no reason why I can't back that up, install a frugal build of DSL and have at.

I do think that if these hit the general market, a howto on configuring them for use with DSL would be an excellent idea. Even better might be a pre-customized version or extension that supports whatever hardware they decide to include.


--------------
----dare2dreamer.
Back to top
Profile PM WEB ICQ AOL MSN YIM 
8 replies since Nov. 23 2005,13:14 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Pages: (2) </ [1] 2 >/
reply to topic new topic new poll
Quick Reply: Hand-cranked linux laptops

Do you wish to enable your signature for this post?
Do you wish to enable emoticons for this post?
Track this topic
View All Emoticons
View iB Code