Michael Steil, a German programmer, has built an application called "Linuxpreview," which is touted as the first application to run on Xbox without using tools from the official Xbox Software Development Kit (SDK), and is the first step toward essentially turning the Xbox into a Linux-based PC.
The application makes the Xbox LED flash and draws a penguin on the Xbox start-up screen. It also generates the message "Xbox Linux Coming Soon!" as well as a link to the Xbox Linux Web site.
Steil is the head of the Xbox Linux Project, which is marshalling volunteers to figure out a way to run Linux--a competitor to Microsoft's Windows operating system--on the console without using any of Microsoft's proprietary development tools. In some ways, the project should be simple, since Xbox is built from hardware that is identical or similar to that of a standard Intel-based PC.
The first barrier to overcome, however, is Xbox's BIOS (basic input-output system), which differs from that of a PC. In order to start up, Linux needs a bootloader; existing varieties all depend on software such as a PC BIOS, or the basic operating system, DOS. The trick, according to Steil, is to figure out enough about the Xbox's BIOS to write a Linux bootloader.
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"It would be trivial to write an application, showing a penguin logo on the screen, which has been written using Microsoft's development tools every regular Xbox game developer has access to. We cannot use this software, so it's more difficult to write software that 'does something' on top of the Xbox system software," Steil added.
He said that Linuxpreview can be used as a template for the upcoming bootloader and other applications. However, once Linux has booted, other applications will only have to deal with the Linux environment, and will not have to deal directly with the Xbox BIOS, according to Steil.
The current application runs on an Xbox with modified hardware, allowing it to run non-Xbox applications, but ultimately the Xbox Linux developers are aiming to get Linux up and running with a software-only method. An anonymous donor recently offered $200,000 for the successful completion of various stages in the Xbox Linux project, with $100,000 for finding a software-only Linux solution.
The current necessity of hardware modification isn't just inconvenient, it can also be expensive for programmers who are spending their spare cash on the consoles. "I now have my third Xbox, two were broken because of my hardware research," said Enrico Kern, another German programmer working on the project.
On the other hand, the Linux enthusiasts are well aware that, according to analyst estimates, Microsoft is losing $125 or more for every console it sells. "We are no friends of Microsoft," Kern said.
Microsoft officials were not immediately available for comment.
Linux is based on an open-source licence, beloved by hackers because it allows them to modify and redistribute its underlying source code, as long as the resulting software is itself open source.
