Doom of Xbox on the horizon due to Linux?

[Alzrius]

I have no clue how reliable this is, since there was no source cited, but this tidbit is from over at www.ninten.com:

Well about a week ago a group called Free-X claimed that they have found a way to modify the xbox without harware modification to run linux, meeting the 100,000 dollar prize given by the linux founder.

They contacted microsoft and demanded that miscrosoft release a signed linux boot loader or else they would reveal their exploit to the public, which would inevitably open up piracy season.

Microsoft failed to meet their terms, and Free-X wasn't bluffing. They released the instrucitons on how to modify the xbox to run linux by changing a few files. This will lead to game pirates to run xbox executables which will open up for piracy.

I have no clue about how this would actually destroy the Xbox, since I'm not much of a tech-wiz at all, but this sounds strikingly similar to what happened with the Dreamcast.

 

[John Crichton]

I doubt this will be the death of the Xbox. DC died because people weren't buying games for it. Here's more on it -

Original statement - http://www.maxconsole.com/?topic=news&sys=all&article=230

Microsoft response - http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000048600,20275965-1,00.htm

 

[herald]

If anything, it would cause people to buy the xbox to put linux on it you would think. And microsoft will continue to thumb thier nose at linux and ignore them.

However, you can now expect some games that will not run on a hacked system soon.

 

[Tsyr]

This won't kill the X-Box.

But I just loath the attitude of these punks... "Oh, we are so sad... Microsoft has forced us to release this exploit, but we really didn't want to, but you see, big bad microsoft wouldn't just bend over and do what we wanted, so we really had no choice, see..."

 

[Fast Learner]

The only way I see that this could "kill" the Xbox would be people buying consoles to run Linux on them rather than to play games. Microsoft -- like all of the other console makers -- loses money on every console sale. In theory they make money overall from development licenses and internally produced games.

I can't believe, however, that the "buy it for Linux only" market will be large enough to make a difference. In fact it's pretty likely that those guys who bought it for Linux will end up buying a game or two anyway because, hey, they've already got the console.

EDIT to clarify: copying of games without hardware mods was going to happen anyway, so that threat was a given and surely assumed by the Xbox team.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

This won't kill the X-Box.

But I just loath the attitude of these punks... "Oh, we are so sad... Microsoft has forced us to release this exploit, but we really didn't want to, but you see, big bad microsoft wouldn't just bend over and do what we wanted, so we really had no choice, see..."

Me too. And that we're distressed people see us as blackmailing microsoft thing made me want to puke. Um maybe people are seeing it that way because these jerks are blackmailing microsoft. Microsoft aint a saint, but that doens't justify these guys actions.

 

[Hardhead]

This hack still requires motherboard soddering. So it's not for the faint of heart. I doubt many will be be runnig out to do this to pirate games!

As for the "blackmail," I don't see what's wrong with what they did. They developed a way to run Linux on the Xbox. Good for them. If I want to buy an Xbox, it's none of Microsoft's buisness whether I run Linux on it or what (as long as I don't pirate games).

The Linux people said, "We have a way to run Linux on the Xbox without a mod chip. It also allows pirating of games. If you, Microsoft, will release an official boot loader for Linux on Xbox we won't release this hack, as pirating games is not what we're trying to do, and not something we want to encourage."

Microsoft said, "No."

The Linux people said, "OK, World, here's how you run Linux on Xbox."

Sounds fine to me.

 

[MJEggertson]

If I want to buy an Xbox, it's none of Microsoft's buisness whether I run Linux on it or what (as long as I don't pirate games).

Actually, it is their business, because if you've successfully run Linux, that means you've bypassed their digital encryption/security/thingamado, which is illegal under the DCMA. It's really no different than defeating the lock on your local bank, and then wandering in and taking cash all the while saying, "But the door was unlocked and the money's just laying here, not claimed as anyone's!"

That's of course, a severe oversimplification, but you get the idea.

 

[trancejeremy]

While it might be possible to allow people to run pirated games without modifying the hardware, it's still rather complicated to do.

(There has also been no evidence, ever, that shows that piracy actually hurts a company. I would wager that Windows is the most pirated cd ever, yet MS is in no danger of going under)


If anything will kill the Xbox, it will be Microsofts lack of quality control on releases, allowing companies to ship very very buggy games (the recent Pirates of the Carribean for instance), or Microsoft trying to push their Xbox Live by having companies deliberately leave out content in games so Live users can later downloaded them (and advertise this as a feature), or the simple lack of killer aps.

 

[Tsyr]

This hack still requires motherboard soddering. So it's not for the faint of heart. I doubt many will be be runnig out to do this to pirate games!

Actualy, this one doesn't. It's software. That's the whole point of it.

As for the "blackmail," I don't see what's wrong with what they did. They developed a way to run Linux on the Xbox. Good for them. If I want to buy an Xbox, it's none of Microsoft's buisness whether I run Linux on it or what (as long as I don't pirate games).

To an extent, yes. There are some provisos to this, but for all practicle purposes, yes, this is the case.

The Linux people said, "We have a way to run Linux on the Xbox without a mod chip. It also allows pirating of games. If you, Microsoft, will release an official boot loader for Linux on Xbox we won't release this hack, as pirating games is not what we're trying to do, and not something we want to encourage."

Microsoft said, "No."

The Linux people said, "OK, World, here's how you run Linux on Xbox."

Sounds fine to me.

I find a shortcut to the movie theater.

It just so happens to involve going through your house, to which I have managed to obtain (and copy) the keys for.

I tell you, "Ok, either leave your door unlocked, but buy a ton of safes to put all your valuables in, or I'll give out this key to everyone I know who goes to the movie theater.

Assume for a sec that you cant just go buy a new lock for your door, because there is no equivant for that anaology for microsoft in this case.

You don't do what I say, you I start giving out keys to everyone I know, several of whom have less than savory reputations.

Still sound fine to you?

Even if I had the most noble goals in mind (Getting me and others to the Movie Theater faster), what I did was irrisponsible, unethical, and rude.

Essentialy, these berks said, "Ok, Microsoft... We know the password to get into your system. Give us our demands, or we give other people the password." Leave the patheticly noble-sounding goal of "running linux" out of it, because that does not matter one iota in relation to what actualy happened. There was nothing noble or altruistic about this. At best, it was some people who have over-developed senses of freedom of information and an underdeveloped sense of ethics and legalities, and at worst it is outright blackmail.

Understand. I have zip, zero, nada, zilch sympathy for this group on the basis of their actions alone. But I wouldn't hate them. In an abstract, techno-geek sense, it's pretty cool. But I do hate them for the attitude they have taken. This whole "We are so deeply saddened that we have been forced into this" drek... It's tripe, pure and simple. Nobody forced their hand. I mean, Niflheim... Nobody forced them to start this project in the first place! And to play the victim now just sickens me.