Hacking the XO Laptop 95
dulceLeche writes "While the OLPC was not designed with the American consumer in mind, people that took part in the Give One Get One program have been having fun with their XOs. The XO has a number of limitations, but with some work you can get Opera running, chat over your mesh network, and much more. An article at Geek.com explains what a few folks were able to do with their XOs."
The Subtle Jokes are Always the Best (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The Subtle Jokes are Always the Best (Score:5, Insightful)
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[joke spoiler] The laptop is silent in normal operation. They only chirp if you launch a specific classroom activity designed to use acoustic signals to measure the distance between two laptops. It's quite neat actually. I guess if you have a classroom of students who all launch this particular application at once, it'll be pretty noisy.
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Go on (Score:4, Informative)
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"designed to be hackable"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Mind you... I don't consider the things from the article to be hacks. Using the CLI is not hacking, downloading and installing software is not hacking, and hooking a sensor up to a soundcard MIC in and using a monitoring app (could easily have been any ol' sound recording app) to look at the sensor's output is hardly a hack either (using the USB for power isn't a hack by any stretch, as the ports are designed with this very thing in mind). Not to mention that all of these can be done on -any- computer.
I may have missed something more subtle, but I really don't think the XO is any more, or less, hackable than any other computer - and I'm really not too sure about 'hackable' being a design goal for the thing. Cheap, rugged, open and all the other things... but hackable? Especially in terms of hardware?
( Don't mod this up - this is just a question post to which I honestly hope to see an answer that makes me change my mind. If one does get posted, please mod that up instead. ~ aether)
Re:"designed to be hackable"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Huh?
Since when does hacking refer only to hardware? And from a software perspective, Sugar is clearly more hackable than anything outside of a Squeak environment. Sure, you can hack anything you like on, say, Ubuntu, but there's a world of difference between that and pressing the "show source" key and modifying the app you're running. And, of course, there's simply no comparison with a closed system like Windows or OS X.
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Installing software is not hacking... come on mate, you dropped the 'installing' off your quote. at least be fair.
Yes, I did, but I didn't -- and don't -- consider it misleading because the rest of the post seemed to assume that nothing related to software could be considered "hacking". Though the specific phrase was taken out of context, it was well within the spirit of the larger context.
Not only that, installing software certainly can be hacking. Doing something that wasn't intended by the designer and requires significant cleverness is hacking, even if it's just installing software.
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Installing software is only considered hacking if you wrote the software you installed.
-Don
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Installing software is only considered hacking if you wrote the software you installed.
Do you not consider installing Linux on an XBox a hack?
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Porting Linux to the XBox was a hack, but just installing something that somebody else created isn't a hack.
Just as writing and performing music is creative, but simply pressing the play button on an iPod isn't creative.
-Don
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Porting Linux to the XBox was a hack, but just installing something that somebody else created isn't a hack
But you said it had to be software you wrote yourself in order to be a hack, and the XBox team didn't create Linux. In fact, it required very little new or modified code, and porting Linux is so well-understood that the code changes required almost no cleverness (cleverness was required, but not in the code). Porting Opera to the XO also required code changes, and some cleverness to find a way to get it to run in Sugar's unusual GUI environment.
So what, then, distinguishes a "hack" from a "non-hack",
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Let's put it this way: typing "yum install foobar" or even "./configure ; make ; sudo make install" is NOT hacking. I assume it took considerably more cleverness to get Linux running on the XBox, so that's probably hacking, if it required some kind of cleverness. Simply doing something you weren't intended to do, but that that doesn't require any cleverness, is not hacking.
-Don
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Let's put it this way: typing "yum install foobar" or even "./configure ; make ; sudo make install" is NOT hacking.
Sure. Are you saying that's all it takes to install Opera on an XO? That's not the impression I got.
I assume it took considerably more cleverness to get Linux running on the XBox, so that's probably hacking, if it required some kind of cleverness.
Agreed -- to be worthy of the name hack, what's required is cleverness. Not hardware modification, and not necessarily even writing software. I believe that's where I started in this thread :-) Actually, just cleverness isn't sufficient, some unorthodoxy is also required, and perhaps a little insight, and writing software or modifying hardware is often involved, but they're not required. After all, t
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You could look at the jargon file [catb.org].
I rarely use definition 2 there (something difficult and clever). It tends to be 1. (something quick and dirty)
Like "I hacked a shell script to work around your kernel module's bugs."
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hacking
v. intr.
To chop or cut something by hacking.
Informal
To write or refine computer programs skillfully.
I would say from reading the article these guys do some hacks. Nothing done here could be achieved easily by a casual user nor are options explained by the manufacture for the casual user.
You can also check out this detailed explanation of hacking and hackers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker [wikipedia.org]
[J]
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Re:"designed to be hackable"? (Score:4, Informative)
It's the only laptop I've ever heard of that uses Open Firmware, or any open source BIOS. There are even tutorials [laptop.org] on hacking it in the wiki. Plus, most of the GUI and applications are written in Python and are designed to be relatively easy to modify.
The hardware itself is far from hackable though. There is very little, if anything, that can be modified inside the thing, even though it is easy to disassemble. I imagine its the result of making it as cheap and rugged as possible.
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My iBook would like to have a word with you outside. Actually all Macs that belong to the "New World" generation have had Open Firmware [wikipedia.org]. This stretches all the way to the iMac and the Blue & White Tower, and continues to the last G5 PowerMacs. All iBooks have OF.
EFI [wikipedia.org] has now replaced OF in the MacIntel platform that was introduced with MacBook, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro.
What I had in mind (Score:2)
The XO has no such restrictions - the source is free and changeable, so you can do whatever you want with it.
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I'm not trying to sound like an astroturfer for the EeePC (I like the XO better), but there is an interesting project where someone hardhacked an EeePC with bluetooth, more USB ports, wifi, larger solid-state storage, etc.
It only cost him several hundred dollars to turn the EeePC into a midrange laptop. :p
I'd link to the site, but it is down.
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The hardware, not so much.
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Well not really. The XO is designed to be hacker resistant. The machine has a security system called bitfrost which is meant to prevent the machine from working if it is stolen, and to also prevent programs from obtaining certain combinations of rights, such as video camera & internet functionality at the same time. I suppose it would be possible to hack programs to work within that framework, but certainly not as
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After all, the XO is designed to be hackable (unlike most hardware today, unfortunately).
Well not really. The XO is designed to be hacker resistant. The machine has a security system called bitfrost which is meant to prevent the machine from working if it is stolen, and to also prevent programs from obtaining certain combinations of rights, such as video camera & internet functionality at the same time. I suppose it would be possible to hack programs to work within that framework, but certainly not as easily as an Asus EEE PC for example where you can pretty much do anything you like.
Yes, but with a developers key virtually all of the bitfrost features can be disabled. Further all combinations of rights are possible, but an unsigned app wanting certain combinations requires manual user involvement. This can be a good thing if it is not too frequent. For example, if an internet application that had nothing to do with video requested video rights, users may become suspicious. However, they would not find it surprising that a videophone application wants to have camera rights, or that it
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These are just preliminary hacks (Score:3, Insightful)
Everything about the OLPC is optimized for its intended end use. It isn't just a bunch of computer bits slapped together. If you want to hack the OLPC successfully, you have to take a bunch of stuff into account otherwise the results will be suboptimal.
Example: The browser that comes with OLPC is optimized for the display and works about as well as could be expected. Opera, on the other hand, gets worse results display wise.
Re:These are just preliminary hacks (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe you should try one if they offer the "Give-One-Get-One" program again. Maybe the kid who gets the XO you donate will create hacks you might find satisfactory.
How easy was it to make Opera work? (Score:1, Informative)
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software_components [laptop.org]
When we look at what the guys in tfa went through, we get the idea that they didn't know something the OLPC people knew.
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But they're hot grits proof !
(sorry, got carried away there, keep going)
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Sad (Score:3, Interesting)
I want to play with the damn thing:P Maybe I will look into getting a a Zipit 2z [zipitwireless.com]. I have the first generation and the second one looks very nice.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Informative)
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"During the reconciliation process of the "get" laptops shipped during Give One Get One, a number of unfulfilled order records were uncovered. We expect another ~5000 XO laptops will be shipped on Monday (January 21)."
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What a painful and useless website this product has! Looks like it was desgined by a fourth-grader. Someone, please beat their web staff with a clue-by-four.
Since you've got one of these gizmos, can you give us a quick rundown on what it is and why you find it useful? 'Cause I sure can't figure it out from their site.
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Who are these idiots that make a flash-based piece of crap website with substance at all?
Would be great if there were some specs or even a small amount of real info available instead of the wannabe mac-marketing pictures.
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Who are these idiots that make flash-based piece of crap websites with NO substance at all?
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A better review is here [linuxdevices.com]
It looks like they are caring about the hacker community. Whats cool about it is not only does it support Wifi but SMS messaging.
"not designed with the American consumer in mind" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:2)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:4, Informative)
-kurt-
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Truth hurts, apparently.
The Slashdot Credo: when you can't utilize language to argue against a point you dislike, use mod points to censor it.
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I don't doubt that development of the OLPC has been expensive. Worthwhile things frequently are.
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:3, Funny)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:4, Funny)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:1, Funny)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:3, Interesting)
Ibook G4 12". Best linux laptop you will ever own and I get 5 hours runtime out of mine daily.
and they are cheap on ebay, if you look hard enough. only problem is that they are not rugged or durable.
Now, the XO peaks my interest as a backpacker/bicycle camping laptop. if you can rig a solar charger for these that would be perfect for the outdoorsperson that wants to have a pc with them (blogging from the backwoods W00t!)
anyone know if they are fine with being used open in the r
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It's also very intersting as an ebook reader, in fact, just for that it's worth the deal. It was designed with that functionaly in mind, it's very useful in places where books are often very expensive and not easy to get.
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Now, the XO peaks my interest as a backpacker/bicycle camping laptop. if you can rig a solar charger for these that would be perfect for the outdoorsperson that wants to have a pc with them (blogging from the backwoods W00t!)
IIRC, part of the point of the XO is that it can be used where there is no power. There is a hand crank you use to generate power. A few minutes of cranking gives you a decent charge. There is also an optional solar panel that they sell.
Also, while they're not supposed to be immersed in water, they are rugged enough that supposedly a little rain won't kill them. YMMV.
(the above is based on my recollection of last years story, I'm pretty sure it's accurate but too lazy to go look)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:1)
(according to this http://www.newstarget.com/z019659.html [newstarget.com], plain html, and this http://www.alternet.org/workplace/74262/ [alternet.org], as examples)
Re:"not designed with the American consumer in min (Score:2)
The hardware is beautiful, but the software needs some work.
Can anyone read Negroponte's mind? (Score:2)
Think of what mesh networking capability can do in a city where many people's hardware does it by default. Would you need to purchase connectivity? Can P2P connectivity do to the telecoms what P2P file transmission has done to the mafiaa? (or at least what the mafiaa believes it is doing to them?) Now could one push such a project where the aim is letting people communicate fr
OOLPCPLH (Score:3, Funny)
The XO as a web server (Score:1)
Anyway the site was broken for me, so the XO webserver hack needs a bit more work.
Inferno is running in Xo (Score:3, Interesting)
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Inferno [laptop.org]
My Favorite Additions (Score:1)
Xubuntu on the XO (Score:4, Informative)
I have Xubuntu on it in a dual boot system, with ubuntu on an SD card. Followed moocapiean's directions [olpcnews.com]. Works great. No glitches.
So, as for it being hackable, I'd say that it's easy to *change*, in ways it wasn't originally intended to run. You don't have to break anything to do that, so maybe it's not strictly speaking hackable. But then, nothing open source is hackable.
Depends on your definition hackable.
Installing Opera is "hacking"? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Are you sure it's that simple? (I don't know, I'm asking. Maybe it should be, and these guys did a Rube Goldberg for no good reason.) Anyway, from TFA:
XO is another platform (Score:2)
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please. OLPC isn't about vocational training for office clerks, it's about fundamental educational opportunities. textbook replacement, communication, experimentation, classroom tools, and so on. for all those things, it's a nearly ideal platform. the fact that it doesn't run MS Office is just gravy.
Fake Steve Jobs (Score:2)
one important piece of hacking (Score:2)
Am I paranoid or gullible or does this worrying piece of software exist on the unit? Is anyone working on a patch to remove it?
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I'm not sure if this is true or not but apparently every OLPC unit has a piece of kill code in it which will brick the unit if they think a unit intended for a child has gone to a third party. Even if I was to do the BOGO option, I'd feel incredibly uncomfortable knowing my unit has the capability to be bricked at will.
Am I paranoid or gullible or does this worrying piece of software exist on the unit? Is anyone working on a patch to remove it?
With a developer's key (which you can get from the OLPC project) (it might even come with the laptops purchased trough the program) one can turn off virtually all security features, including the one you are referring to. My understanding is that to get the key requires evidence that you obtained the laptop legitimately, and that the laptop has not been reported as stolen. (It is not entirely clear if the key can unlock the laptop if it has been locked. But the key can definitely disable the anti-theft fea
I want one (Score:2)
I have the money to pay twice the price. Alas I live in Europe...
Hacking? just su root (Score:1)
You don't really need to 'hack' it. The Terminal "Activity" is in there with the rest of the activities (you'd probably call them applications). It's easier to get a shell on the XO than on the default configuration of Gnome or KDE. And there is no root password. Just 'su root' and you control the box. (While sshd is running, it's configured to not accept root logins.)
I need to look more at the educational activities, but I got caught up first in seeing how far I could go with the Unix. I was ab
Uber Hack (Score:1)
http://flickr.com/photos/barl0w/1101266148/ [flickr.com]
Java on the XO laptop (Score:1, Informative)
More details here:
http://frequal.com/java/FirstLookOnTheOlpcXoLaptop.html [frequal.com]
No point (Score:1)
One can only hope that the XO creates a (Score:2)