Ubuntu 9.04 On Kindle 2 194
JO_DIE_THE_STAR_F*** writes "Jesse Vincent managed to get Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope running on the Kindle 2. The new functionality was presented in a talk at OSCON 2009."
IF I HAD A MINE SHAFT, I don't think I would just abandon it. There's got to be a better way. -- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.
Re:data connection? (Score:4, Informative)
I can't help but wonder - is the kindle's data connection still available?
And if so, on what end is the code that limits the kindle to accessing wikipedia and amazon?
It should be; the data connection (sprint) doesn't use an account-name system. It's based on hardware. The hardware hasn't changed, so one can assume connectivity will work.
Re:data connection? (Score:5, Informative)
The Kindle isn't limited to accessing Wikipedia and Amazon even with the default OS-- there's a web browser under the "experimental" features in the default menu. Amazon doesn't play it up much partly because it's not very good [techcrunch.com], and partly because presumably they'd lose money if people bought Kindles just for web browsing.
Re:data connection? (Score:1, Informative)
I can't help but wonder - is the kindle's data connection still available?
And if so, on what end is the code that limits the kindle to accessing wikipedia and amazon?
Yes, the data link is still available.
And kindle doesn't limit users to Wikipedia and Amazon! I can check my emails, get books from Project Gutenberg etc - I think the limit is Javascript (AFAIK).
Re:One obvious question (Score:3, Informative)
It gives you a better base on which to start customizing the device--- e.g. once there was Linux on the XBox, people started producing software to turn them into media centers. The built-in OS on Kindle can't do much, and it's not easy to modify it to have it do more. For example, even on the Kindle's hardware it should be possible to have a better web browser than the really bad one that's built in.
Re:One obvious question (Score:5, Informative)
I recently bought a Kindle book (was cheaper than used copies), and discovered that it appeared to have been scanned, and poorly at that. There were OCR artifacts, and the font was crappy. I read up on the situation, and found that Amazon offers refunds for 7 days after a Kindle book purchase. I called, complained, and was refunded the price for my purchase. (Not sure if the 7 days is accurate, read that online, but it worked for me).
I had backed up my Kindle files, and I was curious what would happen when I 'synced' the Kindle with its wireless connection. Sure enough, the book I was refunded for disappeared. Also out of curiosity, I restored the backed-up file of the book to the Kindle, and it was still readable.
You can already do that. (Score:3, Informative)
You can already do that. The Kindle appears to the computer as a USB mass storage device.
Somewhat Meta. (Score:3, Informative)
No, the REAL question is... why?
A Netbook is cheaper, faster, and designed to run it. Why pay Amazon for an overpriced specialty item then make it do something it was never intended to do? I can't imagine the thing can still access the 3G network for free (the author replied "YES BUT DON'T DO THAT" to someone who asked)...
And, yes, I know... "because we can". And I congratulate the person who managed this. It's an impressive technical achievement.
Still doesn't make it something I see a lot of people wanting to do. Why would anyone really want to take a one-trick pony and change the trick...?
My question is... doesn't it ALREADY [blogspot.com] run linux?
Re:One obvious question (Score:2, Informative)
Until the next time it does a full sync with Amazon to confirm purchases. I wouldn't expect it to stick around forever.
Re:One obvious question (Score:3, Informative)
Re:First (Score:4, Informative)
Finally, someone who gets it.
I'm a grad student, and I can't begin to tell you how many PDF files my professors have distributed to classes as reading material. Hundreds of pages, probably thousands. Sometimes I find torrents of books I'm supposed to read for class; other times, the Kindle version is cheaper than any available used copy (and I get it instantaneously, no waiting a week for shipping).
I'd like a netbook too, mainly for taking notes, but they're different devices with different purposes.
A couple notes... (Score:5, Informative)
What I did was to get a Jaunty _chroot_ running on the Kindle 2. The interesting bits were mostly around making X work and beating the 5-pad into submission.
Re:Why? Because it is there? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:First (Score:1, Informative)
things it also does From Vincents presentation:
1.) Amazon knows where you are
2.) has your credit card #
3.) Your home address
4.) Sends syslog to amazon 2 times a day
5.) Profit !
Re:Interesting test of Amazon's Legal Dept. (Score:2, Informative)
The Kindle runs Linux already. All he did was disable a few protections, which you would know if you had watched the video. That TOS has absolutely zero applicability, since they have already released the modifications they made to the Linux kernel (as required by the GPL.)
In fact, given the fact that the Kindle is Linux, the software provisions of their TOS are patently absurd.
Re:First (Score:2, Informative)
Why not Debian?
Because Debian is crap on the desktop? And I'm a Debian 'fanboy' so I have a right to say that.
I have been developing some desktop virtual machines, I've tried Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) and Debian Lenny.
Lenny is just not comparable with Jaunty for desktop use, and I'd imagine the same would apply to Kindle or Netbooks.
I'm not dissing Debian; I use Debian on servers, pretty much exclusively. I'd be very averse to using Ubuntu on servers.
Re:One obvious question (Score:3, Informative)
In this case, the ability to have an inexpensive, hackable e-paper device would allow the development of improved usage patterns for low-refresh rate devices.
Right now there are only a few e-paper devices out there, so there's only been a few groups working on the UIs. With the community hacking at it, its very possible someone will find new, better ways to do things that make e-paper devices less specialized. All the complaints about the rather poor web-browser are largely based on a lack of creativity and effort in the UI department... if one of these guys thinks they can do better I'd love to see what they can do.
Re:data connection? (Score:4, Informative)
Someone on the project page asked the guy who did this if the data connection worked. His reply was rather cryptic: "YES BUT DON'T DO THAT". If the person who managed it is recommending against it, the very same hoopy frood with the smarts who managed to go to all the trouble to hack Ubuntu onto the Kindle, then I gotta go with "it either doesn't work well enough to bother, or there's a really good reason why you shouldn't use it if it does".
Amazon only guarantees that the Kindle can be used to access a few websites (Wikipedia, Amazon, maybe one or two more), but they currently allow you to access all of the internet for free over Sprint's cellular network. Amazon pays for it.
If people were to start tethering their Kindles and using them as a means of getting free internet anywhere, it would become too expensive for Amazon to continue. This is probably why the author said not to use the data connection; he doesn't want Amazon to discontinue the free internet service.
Semantic Web (Score:3, Informative)
Watch the video until the end, there's a brilliantly funny presentation about the semantic web that you wont want to miss.
Re:help me out ... (Score:3, Informative)
The post office delivers a letter "cheaper than the other carriers" because it has a monopoly to deliver letters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service [wikipedia.org]
If you're delivering something via FedEx for example, I guess it's legally no longer a letter.