From: Daniel Quinlan (quinlan@rose.cs.bucknell.edu)
Date: 09/08/93


From: quinlan@rose.cs.bucknell.edu (Daniel Quinlan)
Subject: Can you port Linux to my Refrigerator?
Date: 08 Sep 1993 17:20:00 GMT


uberig@gfx.engga.uwo.ca (Jason Uberig) writes:

> I browsed the group and didn't see any Atari related stuff. It sure
> would be nice to see a port of Linux for the Atari ST/Falcon/etc. Is/has
> anyone done this yet? I've heard a few rumors, but nothing substantial
> yet.

You know, I think that Linux should be ported to my refrigerator. I
mean, it already has many built in features similar to Unix and I
think that these facts should make a port simple.

  o Hierarchical structure, i.e. old stuff goes in back, I even have
     to defragment it whenever something starts to smell

  o Electrical wiring (maybe in the future even this won't be needed!)

  o Multi-user interface (I can use the freezer and someone else can
     access the rest without any device conflicts)

  o I heard a rumour that a beta version already exists for toasters
     so surely someone must be working on a refrigerator version.

  o It even has built-in power management (I heard the bulb
     turns off whenever I shut the door) that is only just staring to
     be used in typical personal computers.

And most important, almost everyone has a refrigerator lying around
that I believe needs to be running Linux to bring them up to par with
... well, my 386. Doesn't this make you mad! - why should Unix be
restricted to people with computers?

If anyone knows where I can find someone else wanting to port Linux to
refrigerators, please mail me so we can start work right away!

========================================================================

Back to reality.

This "port Linux to everything thing phenomenon" is rather silly. Why
on Earth would you want to port it to anything nobody uses anymore? I
don't want to know how slow any Unix would run on my Commodore 128
(yes I still have a working one). I know that we aren't all made of
gold, but 386's are dirt cheap these days.

Ian, if you are reading this, please add a "No, Linux is not being
ported to your refrigerator" to the daily-posting, if it isn't already
there.

Dan