A little question of identity
Is this an X-Box or not. From
X-Box Scene:
The website is down because someone removed the Xbox
Public Universities are always running on a limited budget which means they sometimes come up with "innovative" solutions. A couple of years back, an X-Box with some variant of Linux installed had been put in the server room to support a subject designed to teach computer-illiterate Philosophy students how to build their own web pages.
Five weeks into the "Web pages for Philosophy students" class [this year] the excrement encountered the rotary cooling device. The IT department's help desk started receiving calls from Philosophy students who were unable to access their web projects.
Flummoxed, the help desk staff escalated the job ticket to the Unix administrator. Unable to remotely access the X-Box, he trotted off to the server room. He was surprised to find that the X-Box was no longer present.
The administrator went down to the new manager's office to report the missing X-Box. The new manager was quiet for a moment and then sheepishly informed the administrator that it was he who had removed the X-Box. The manager had thought the X-Box was just a games console that the IT departments staff used for recreation when it got quiet. Noticing that the X-Box hadn't been moved from the server room for some time and that his son was going to be at home on school holidays for the next two weeks, the manager decided to take the X-Box home so that his son would have something to entertain himself with. The manager then drove home and retrieved the X-Box. The administrator got a labeling machine and plastered the words "This is actually a server" all across the console.
Heh... Kudos to whomever thought of using the X-Box -- it runs Linux quite well and makes an excellent server for under $200. I heard that it costs MSFT more to make and package than the MSRP. They make their money on the games. Using it as a Linux server is brilliant.
Posted by DaveH at June 8, 2006 6:29 PM