Seems like a big future for Linux is all those devices with Linux
preinstalled. I have a Linux based Cowon A3 personal multimedia player
and it works great. There are apparently a lot of gadgets, selling by
the thousands, running Linux.

I am thinking of buying a EEE PC just for the fsck of it.

Here's the story:

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http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/03/27...entertainment/

Rather than bore you with a handful of other random gadgets and
doodads that run Linux, Ive decided to focus on one really big thing
thats phenomenal. So I present to you, dear readers, with Virgin
Americas in-flight entertainment system, RED. Ive written about it
once or twice before and every flight I take on VA gets better. Ill be
flying to Vegas this weekend for CTIA and Im as giddy as a schoolgirl
because Ill be taking VA. Its a completely different experience and
its only getting better, but dont take my word for it. You should
really take advantage if theyre servicing your city. If not, then wait
it out and try it when you can. Its definitely worth it and once
Aircells GoGo network is implemented into VAs fleet, you wont find a
better airline in the US.

Today, were interviewing Charles Ogilvie, the Director of Inflight
Entertainment and designer of RED.

CG: Why did you pick linux for RED?

CO: Linux is very stable and agile. We were able to pare down the
embedded seat-back side to only the libraries we need, license a
container app and then write the code needed to tie everything
together

Which distribution are you using?
Flavors of Red Hat & Fedora (we have embedded seat-back units, seat &
distribution boxes and a head-end that consists of some file servers)

Wow long was it in testing?
Weve been developing it for 4 years and it has gone through numerous
iterations. Before a new version is released, it is tested on a
simulation rack

Did Microsoft approach you about running Windows on the back end?
Weve talked with a lot of software vendors.

What was the hardest part about creating the system? Was it the
software? The hardware?
The hardest part is maintaining agility. The beauty of the
architecture is that we can continue to move forward, innovate and
constantly look for additional areas to add new, unprecedented
functionality like our inflight food ordering system or seat-to-seat
chat.

Why dont more people use Linux in high traffic situations like this?
I dont know. They should.

How often does it crash? The Linux machines, not the planes
Resets or reboots occur in different areas. Because we are trying
different open source games, we do notice issues with porting them for
example. Over time, we work through those issues. Our inflight team
members (flight attendants) have the ability to reboot seats. The seat
units also monitor themselves and can reset themselves if they freeze
or lose connectivity (a heart-beat) with the head-end.

Whats the deal with the in-flight chat? Why was that included? Have
people connected through that?
Seat-to-seat chat and TV-Chat are some of the most fun features we
have. Weve had everything from people striking up great conversations
with other guests in chats to groups using it laugh and have fun while
watching the same program. The whole idea behind it is to allow a
sense of community to take place in a typically confined, airborne
environment. I cannot wait for broadband and the chance for our
passengers to chat with the ground

Whats in store for the future besides in-flight Wi-Fi?
The ability to compose a music-video playlist is pretty cool and on
the horizon. The READ section is also awesome in that it takes what is
typically a bunch of wasted trees (excess newspapers, periodicals) and
allows us to be more environmentally friendly and timely with things
like news/event info/sports/entertainment etc.