8 ms·

Puppy Linux on the MK802 $74 mini PC

43 points by voodoochilo 14y ago

gcb 14y ago
Why people get excited by a 1.5ghz and half gig ram running something? I've run web browsers alongside heavy cad applications on way lower hardware and not that long ago. ...think my most responsive desktop so far have been a 150mhz 129mb ram Indy pizza box running irix 5 something, driving a 24" crt with considerable more pixel count than fullhd. Funny thing, back then, The system config whole ui was Mozilla 2.0 engine with js and css1 or something.
- voodoochilo 14y ago
  ...because many of them are probably too young to remember those ... other days:)
- cfn 14y ago
  But then there's the size... The novelty is the size of these devices. I also run Word and Excel on a 386 at 40 Mhz but it was a full tower not a credit card sized box.
  - voodoochilo 14y ago
    yes, 20 years ago nobody could've dreamed about that.
  - gcb 14y ago
    Agree. But we should then be saying "omg 1.5ghz full system in that form factor!" Not that such high spec system can run a sub average set of software intended for old 486 Btw, the pizza boxes were considered incredible small back in early 90s :) The sgi Indy even had a "portable" version with attached lcd screen.
    - cfn 14y ago
      Yes the Indy was a very cool machine. There was also another one that was a cube... cannot remember what it was.
- ridruejo 14y ago
  The excitement is more about being able to carry it in your pocket
- JonnieCache 14y ago
  I'd wager that your sgi workstation drew considerably more than 10 watts though. That's why people get so excited about these things, that and the form factor. The other thing is the hardware accelerated video decoding, watching 1080p h264 with just 10 watts is undeniably impressive. EDIT: I have reason to believe the sgi pizzaboxes cost somewhat more than $74 as well, even 80s dollars.
  - ajross 14y ago
    It's not a battery-powered device. Why is 10 watts exciting except to people interested in power optimization? Note that there are passively cooled (albeit larger: ITX) Cedar Trail boards available now for about 60% more (total system cost) which outperform this box by a factor of 8x or so, and consume about 30W peak. They have hardware accelerated video too (though the GPU acceleration requires proprietary 32-bit-only drivers).
    - zokier 14y ago
      Do you have link to the $120 Cedar Trail system you are speaking of?
      - ajross 14y ago
        Here's one (just the motherboard for $79US -- add a DIMM and some kind of storage, stick in a box): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079VVLZG http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079VVLZG I haven't bought one yet, but am eyeing them for my next gadget project. Intel has a family of boards in this price range.
        duskwuff 14y ago
        The GMA3650 (aka PowerVR SGX545) graphics chipset used by Cedar Trail is not supported under Linux: http://communities.intel.com/message/158477 http://communities.intel.com/message/158477
        14y ago
xxiao 14y ago
what's the market for this thingy? you need a larger storage, a wireless keyboard/mouse, and assuming a hdmi-display is somewhere ready for use, with all that i could just bring a 7" tablet or a 10" netbook, or a smartphone. the only place i see is schools, every student can carry one and use it in the computer lab for projects., but then it might get lost, and you probably end up with more management issues comparing to a thin-client setting or a multi-head configuration. in short, i don't see a good market for it, no matter how cheap that is.
- voodoochilo 14y ago
  "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers"
  - xxiao 14y ago
    what's your exact point? I'm in talk with some minipc vendors myself and am not sure where the market is for that.
    - voodoochilo 14y ago
      my exact point is: don't judge too early. btw: the freedombox (https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/ https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/) is one possible market from my pov
- vonmoltke 14y ago
  > you need a larger storage Why? > [you need] a wireless keyboard/mouse Why? You are presuming a certain use case here. I don't think there is a market for this product as a portable, general-purpose computing device. I do think there are a number of other use cases, though: - Limited functionality, interactive kiosk/infowall type systems - Remote logging and processing systems, particularly for complex sensors - Embedded industrial or robotics systems
  - xxiao 14y ago
    by minipc i think it's trying to be a portable PC? 2GB NAND might be too limited for any PC, thus the storage. If it's for a IP STB, you still need storage for media files. without a wireless keyboard/mouse, how can I use it as a consumer electronic device? The rest are actually good example, i wish it exposes more IO pins for robotic and industrial usage, but meanwhile the chip needs to be industrial-qualified, not all tablet/cellphone chips can be used in industrial, if at all
jamesgeck0 14y ago
Note that Puppy Linux runs as root. http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Security http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Security
- jevinskie 14y ago
  I really can't fathom why that is. The wiki mentions something about "bloat". I can hardly imagine that properly using multiple users would bloat much of anything!
  - astrodust 14y ago
    It has 512MB of memory and a 4GB flash drive. That's enterprise level compared to what many people around here first started using Linux on.
astrodust 14y ago
"Puppy isn’t the prettiest or the most user-friendly Linux-based operating system I’ve used." Saying it's not pretty is like saying outer space is kind of cold. We have Doctors Without Borders for a reason. What we need now is the same thing for designers to rescue open-source projects like this from their miserable, hideous state.

43 points by voodoochilo 14y ago

gcb 14y ago

Why people get excited by a 1.5ghz and half gig ram running something? I've run web browsers alongside heavy cad applications on way lower hardware and not that long ago. ...think my most responsive desktop so far have been a 150mhz 129mb ram Indy pizza box running irix 5 something, driving a 24" crt with considerable more pixel count than fullhd. Funny thing, back then, The system config whole ui was Mozilla 2.0 engine with js and css1 or something.

voodoochilo 14y ago
...because many of them are probably too young to remember those ... other days:)
cfn 14y ago
But then there's the size... The novelty is the size of these devices. I also run Word and Excel on a 386 at 40 Mhz but it was a full tower not a credit card sized box.
- voodoochilo 14y ago
  yes, 20 years ago nobody could've dreamed about that.
- gcb 14y ago
  Agree. But we should then be saying "omg 1.5ghz full system in that form factor!" Not that such high spec system can run a sub average set of software intended for old 486 Btw, the pizza boxes were considered incredible small back in early 90s :) The sgi Indy even had a "portable" version with attached lcd screen.
  - cfn 14y ago
    Yes the Indy was a very cool machine. There was also another one that was a cube... cannot remember what it was.
ridruejo 14y ago
The excitement is more about being able to carry it in your pocket
JonnieCache 14y ago
I'd wager that your sgi workstation drew considerably more than 10 watts though. That's why people get so excited about these things, that and the form factor. The other thing is the hardware accelerated video decoding, watching 1080p h264 with just 10 watts is undeniably impressive. EDIT: I have reason to believe the sgi pizzaboxes cost somewhat more than $74 as well, even 80s dollars.
- ajross 14y ago
  It's not a battery-powered device. Why is 10 watts exciting except to people interested in power optimization? Note that there are passively cooled (albeit larger: ITX) Cedar Trail boards available now for about 60% more (total system cost) which outperform this box by a factor of 8x or so, and consume about 30W peak. They have hardware accelerated video too (though the GPU acceleration requires proprietary 32-bit-only drivers).
  - zokier 14y ago
    Do you have link to the $120 Cedar Trail system you are speaking of?
    - ajross 14y ago
      Here's one (just the motherboard for $79US -- add a DIMM and some kind of storage, stick in a box): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079VVLZG http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079VVLZG I haven't bought one yet, but am eyeing them for my next gadget project. Intel has a family of boards in this price range.
      - duskwuff 14y ago
        The GMA3650 (aka PowerVR SGX545) graphics chipset used by Cedar Trail is not supported under Linux: http://communities.intel.com/message/158477 http://communities.intel.com/message/158477
        14y ago

xxiao 14y ago

what's the market for this thingy? you need a larger storage, a wireless keyboard/mouse, and assuming a hdmi-display is somewhere ready for use, with all that i could just bring a 7" tablet or a 10" netbook, or a smartphone. the only place i see is schools, every student can carry one and use it in the computer lab for projects., but then it might get lost, and you probably end up with more management issues comparing to a thin-client setting or a multi-head configuration. in short, i don't see a good market for it, no matter how cheap that is.

voodoochilo 14y ago
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers"
- xxiao 14y ago
  what's your exact point? I'm in talk with some minipc vendors myself and am not sure where the market is for that.
  - voodoochilo 14y ago
    my exact point is: don't judge too early. btw: the freedombox (https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/ https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/) is one possible market from my pov
vonmoltke 14y ago
> you need a larger storage Why? > [you need] a wireless keyboard/mouse Why? You are presuming a certain use case here. I don't think there is a market for this product as a portable, general-purpose computing device. I do think there are a number of other use cases, though: - Limited functionality, interactive kiosk/infowall type systems - Remote logging and processing systems, particularly for complex sensors - Embedded industrial or robotics systems
- xxiao 14y ago
  by minipc i think it's trying to be a portable PC? 2GB NAND might be too limited for any PC, thus the storage. If it's for a IP STB, you still need storage for media files. without a wireless keyboard/mouse, how can I use it as a consumer electronic device? The rest are actually good example, i wish it exposes more IO pins for robotic and industrial usage, but meanwhile the chip needs to be industrial-qualified, not all tablet/cellphone chips can be used in industrial, if at all

jamesgeck0 14y ago

Note that Puppy Linux runs as root. http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Security http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Security

jevinskie 14y ago
I really can't fathom why that is. The wiki mentions something about "bloat". I can hardly imagine that properly using multiple users would bloat much of anything!
- astrodust 14y ago
  It has 512MB of memory and a 4GB flash drive. That's enterprise level compared to what many people around here first started using Linux on.

astrodust 14y ago

"Puppy isn’t the prettiest or the most user-friendly Linux-based operating system I’ve used." Saying it's not pretty is like saying outer space is kind of cold. We have Doctors Without Borders for a reason. What we need now is the same thing for designers to rescue open-source projects like this from their miserable, hideous state.