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www.ipodlinux.org
For a while now, these guys have been developing a distro of Linux that runs on iPods. At this point, they've got it working pretty good, and there are tons of programs and games being developed for iPods.
Just recently someone released a beta video player, and it works great. Even on the greyscale iPods, many videos are very watchable, and they're even better on color iPods. I converted an episode of Family Guy and watched part of it on my greyscale iPod. There is no sound support yet, but it's just amazing being able to watch video on it.
Also, recently released is an iPod text editor, with many different options for inputting text. Now, it's not very easy with ANY of the methods, but it's still pretty neat. Nothing that would replace a good PDA but still neat. One of the options is an onscreen keyboard where you move the cursor around and type. You can even (obviously) save your file and view it later, on your iPod or any device (computer) that can read plain text files.
The fun part is the tons of new games people have added. Examples are Connect 4, Minesweeper, Pong, Helicopter, iDopeWars, and more including TETRIS! I think it's worth installing it just to be able to play Tetris on your iPod.
People are developing new applications all the time, such as the ability to record onto the iPod without any special hardware, and voice recognition and playback. Pretty amazing stuff.
Be warned, though. There really hasn't been any reports of someone permanently breaking their iPod doing this, but that's not to say that it's not possible. You have to read and follow the directions correctly, and you won't have any problems. I'm not going to explain how to do all of this stuff, but if you read through their forums at http://www.ipodlinux.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=15 you should be fine. Do NOT try installing Linux until you read through the site/forums a bit and understand what you're doing. The installer is pretty foolproof and automatic, but you should still understand what you're doing first.
For a while now, these guys have been developing a distro of Linux that runs on iPods. At this point, they've got it working pretty good, and there are tons of programs and games being developed for iPods.
Just recently someone released a beta video player, and it works great. Even on the greyscale iPods, many videos are very watchable, and they're even better on color iPods. I converted an episode of Family Guy and watched part of it on my greyscale iPod. There is no sound support yet, but it's just amazing being able to watch video on it.
Also, recently released is an iPod text editor, with many different options for inputting text. Now, it's not very easy with ANY of the methods, but it's still pretty neat. Nothing that would replace a good PDA but still neat. One of the options is an onscreen keyboard where you move the cursor around and type. You can even (obviously) save your file and view it later, on your iPod or any device (computer) that can read plain text files.
The fun part is the tons of new games people have added. Examples are Connect 4, Minesweeper, Pong, Helicopter, iDopeWars, and more including TETRIS! I think it's worth installing it just to be able to play Tetris on your iPod.
People are developing new applications all the time, such as the ability to record onto the iPod without any special hardware, and voice recognition and playback. Pretty amazing stuff.
Be warned, though. There really hasn't been any reports of someone permanently breaking their iPod doing this, but that's not to say that it's not possible. You have to read and follow the directions correctly, and you won't have any problems. I'm not going to explain how to do all of this stuff, but if you read through their forums at http://www.ipodlinux.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=15 you should be fine. Do NOT try installing Linux until you read through the site/forums a bit and understand what you're doing. The installer is pretty foolproof and automatic, but you should still understand what you're doing first.
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