You'll have to jailbreak your iPhone using ZiPhone, and the actual steps involved seem fairly involved...but hey, if you're a Linux user, you're probably cool with both fairly involved technical tweaking and voiding warranties.

Go forth, brave adventurer.

If the native hackability of the version of OS X on the Apple TV isn't enough for you, there's now a convenient boot loader that allows you to install linux. This also opens up the possibility of running linux based video software, particularly MPlayer, Myth TV, and XMBC. Further, since there are linux drivers for the NVIDIA hardware decoder in the Apple TV there's also the possibility of higher resolution 1080i output as opposed to the 720p it's normally limited to.

Unfortunately, this is project is still in the early stages and none of this is working perfectly yet. Nonetheless, it's a interesting development on the Apple TV hacking front.

[via Apple TV Hacks]

During the latest Linux conference in Melbourne, Australia, Linus Torvalds was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald saying that the Leopard file system was "complete and utter crap." As you may know, Torvalds is the parent of the Linux kernel. He said that he still prefers Leopard to Windows Vista; However, he went on to say that both companies are using their operating systems to propel more software and hardware sales.

We'll refrain from commenting on various drawbacks of Linux distributions when compared to Mac OS X, but if you're curious about the challenges and pleasures found when moving to Linux, have a look at the Flipping the Linux Switch series produced by our colleagues at Download Squad.

[via MacNN]

Despite the publicity around Parallels' flagship Mac product, Parallels Desktop (which we've contributed to in some small part), there are some other interesting tools in the stable of Parallels' parent company, SWsoft -- which is now being rebranded as Parallels, Inc. just to keep us on our toes. One of those products is Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (PVC), which launches version 4.0 today in a webcast event at 11 am (Eastern). While PVC is not a Mac-compatible server (yet), the technology choices Parallels made in developing it may illuminate some future paths for the yet-unreleased Parallels Server product for Mac OS X.

Virtualization products like Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and Microsoft's Virtual Server work via a hypervisor model, virtualizing the hardware platform so that each virtual machine runs in its own full-OS environment. This approach does a great job of insulating the VMs from the underlying physical hardware and provides for OS and build diversity (Windows, Linux and eventually Mac OS X Server running on the same virtualization platform) but it has some drawbacks: each virtual machine consumes a full helping of RAM, disk space and CPU resources while running, as though it was a physical machine. VMware in particular is respected for its expertise in optimizing these resource demands with its ESX enterprise-level server products, but the baseline requirements for system resources can't be fully alleviated.

PVC does OS virtualization, which tackles the problem of resource allocation for virtual machines in a different way. Virtuozzo VMs, or "containers," are created as overlays on the base OS that runs on the physical server, like a piece of transparent acetate over an animation backdrop. All the basic OS processes, files and libraries are present in the base server OS instance, and the container holds the differential changes that allow the VMs their individual characteristics and configurations. While you sacrifice one big feature of hypervisor systems, the ability to diversify OSes -- since the base OS is fixed as either Windows or Linux, all the containers have to be built on top of that OS -- what you gain is substantial, as each additional running VM takes only a small chunk of RAM and a comparatively tiny swath of hard drive space to work in. Virtuozzo servers can handle high VM loading on relatively modest hardware without taking major performance hits, which is a big plus if your server budget is constrained.

In the OS X virtualization session at Macworld Expo, the Parallels folks suggested that we may see both hypervisor and OS virtualization approaches integrated in the Parallels Server product, as the engineering teams from PVC and Server have the opportunity to put their heads together. Parallels has also said that the management tools for PVC and Parallels Server will be integrated as development moves forward. Even though PVC doesn't support the Mac directly, if you're interested in virtualization you might pop into the webcast and check it out.

Xbox Media Center (or XBMC) is an open source media program designed to run on an original Microsoft Xbox game console-- for an open source app designed on a "hostile" platform, it's actually got one of the better media center interfaces around (and it's easy to plug into-- you can even use your iPhone to control it remotely). And so the crew over there has recently been porting it back to work with Linux itself-- all of the Xbox Media Center, none of the actual Xbox.

If it's on Linux, it shouldn't be too hard to get it back running on OS X itself, right? At least that's what elan on the XBMC forums thought-- he hacked together a close-to-working XBMC port on Leopard. They haven't released it in any fully workable form yet (if you want to dive in as a developer, you can probably start here, and good luck, you're going to need it), but as a few people say, there's definitely a call for a terrific open source media center for OS X, because Front Row doesn't cut it for everyone.

Thanks, floris!

I was a little surprised to hear all the cheering over on the EVE Online post the other day-- I have to say, I had no idea you TUAW readers could get so excited about an MMO (and by the way, my name in game is Frank Dante, if any of you more experienced pilots want to take me on an Omber mining mission).

But now that I know you're out there, I've got even more good news for you. The Mac client has been available to download for a little while now in beta, and it supposedly works great. Plaguelands got it running terrific on a pretty well-fitted MacBook Pro running Tiger. There have been rumors about Leopard not working well, but considering that CCP (the company that makes EVE) specifically mentioned Leopard in their announcement, it should run just as well.

And tomorrow's the day-- EVE players are getting both the new patch, and the new Mac and Linux clients. I'll see you all out there among the belts, mining asteroids and fending off rats.

There's no such thing as a 'naked iPod' -- at some point, if the iPod is going to be useful, it has to be paired with a computer to have music loaded (or, as noted in the comments, you'll be spending a LOT at the WiFi iTunes Store). Despite appearances, the set of iPod owners does not map exactly to the set of iTunes users; there are folks who prefer to manage their iPods via Winamp, Anapod or Ephpod on the Windows platform, and for Linux users (with no iTunes version at all) there are open-source apps and libraries like gtkpod/libgpod (libgpod is also the engine behind Senuti, the freeware reverse-iTunes tool). All of these utilities depend on an understanding of the iTunesDB file found on every iPod to be able to read out the list of songs on the device and manage them independently.

The landscape appears to have changed, however, with the release of the new iPods. According to a post on the iPodMinusiTunes blog, the iTunesDB file now contains a couple of encrypted hashes that validate the information in the music list; this 'fingerprints' the iPod/iTunes pairing and also prevents third-party apps from modifying the iTunesDB without access to the hash key. Those applications now may show '0 songs' if they try to copy songs to the iPod. Tools like Senuti, which only copy files FROM the iPod, continue to work (verified by Nik and his new Nano).

This change has unfortunate implications for those users who depended on the third-party apps to manage their iPods; until and unless the development community cracks the iTunesDB lock, the new gear will be inaccessible to anything but iTunes for management. At this point, we don't know that Apple modified iTunesDB specifically to foil non-iTunes utilities; there may be legitimate technical or infrastructure reasons (WiFi iTunes Store?) to make this change. Still, for the slice of the iPod market that depends on the extra-iTunes management capability, this is going to stifle any plans to upgrade to the latest and greatest until the software can catch up.

Thanks, Dave.

Hot on the heels of the Apple IIe-into-a-Linux-terminal tutorial we posted the other day, here's another mix of retro and modern-- Byte Cellar has hooked up an old Apple IIc (or //c if you spin that way) to work as a terminal to a Mac Mini. It's pretty neat-- sounds like they frankensteined the IIc's serial port to a USB connection, put ModemMGR on the IIc (which is three whole floppies), and now are using the old "luggable" as an IRC client, which is a perfect use for it, and, as Blake says, makes it feel "great to twiddle the //c's keys in a meaningful way every workday."

There's also a photo gallery of the whole setup, which shows the spliced cable, as well as the whole setup in all its glory (yeah the XP box mars it a bit, but no one's perfect). Very cool. Makes me wish I still had one of those old clunky Apple IIs, if only to run IRC as it's mean to be run-- with nothing but green text on a black screen.

[via Digg]

As he even points out, this isn't the first time this has been done, but Quag7 has written up a very detailed, simple, and often hilarious (I feel the same way about Michael Bay!) guide for converting that old Apple ][e you've got sitting around into a Linux serial terminal. In this case, he runs a serial connection between a modern (everything is relative here) Gentoo distro and the ][e using ADTPro as a go-between. Hook up ADTPro on both, get the serial hooked up and running on both, install a term program on the ][e and then make sure everything can talk to each other (at 9600 baud-- remember baud? Oh those were the days), and voila, you've got an Apple ][e that can run a Linux distro. Why would you want to do this? No idea.

But why else do we do this kind of crazy stuff (like hook an Apple ][e up to a game machine, or even an actual Mac)? We do this, my friends, because we can.

[via Waxy]

After teasing us by announcing a release candidate for beta testers (and a sale that is now over) and posting videos of Quake 4 - a very resource-intensive game - running impressively well in Parallels, this powerful new v3.0 of the leading virtualization suite for Mac OS X has been released. Offering significant new features like we already mentioned, such as the highly-anticipated 3D acceleration (XP for now, Vista to come) and SmartSelect for specifying files types to open in apps across virtualized OSes, this could easily be called the most significant release of Parallels since the advent of Coherence Mode.

Parallels Desktop 3.0 sells for $79.99 and is ready for download now, with 15-day trial keys are available to those who already used trial keys for previous versions.

Dust off those old iBooks and Powerbooks and give them new life with Linux. Earlier this week, Ubuntu released version 7.04 of their desktop and server distribution, called "Feisty Fawn." While version 6 was the last officially supported version of Ubuntu for PPC, there is a community-supported PPC version of Feisty Fawn that you can download here. Ubuntu is a free (as in speech and beer) download.

Also, Yellow Dog Linux version 5.0.1 for PPC was made available in the Terra Soft store earlier this month, and the download mirrors will be availabe in a few weeks. For now, you can purchase YDL from Terra Soft in one of two bundles, priced at $99.95 and $49.95 respectively.

[Via MacSlash]

Over at the #awkwardtv IRC channel, poster "Beyond" just announced that he's gotten Gentoo installed and running on his Apple TV. He used the mach_linux_kernel maker from mactel_linux (aka Gimli's loader). The OS (2.6.20.6 with the AppleTV patch) seems to be up and working after a few initial problems (now solved) with repeating characters. He sent over these screen shots for your viewing pleasure. More as this develops.

This week's desktop is a bit of a curve ball and interesting (in our humble opinion) for three reasons. First, this isn't Mac OS X at all: it's a hot new beta version of Ubuntu 7.04, arguably one of the most popular versions of Linux with quite a bit of steam behind it for a number of reasons, which is likely running via Parallels or Boot Camp (we knew we could make the exception because it's from Flickr user Ali Karbassi, who we've noticed submitting plenty of Mac OS X wallpapers to our TUAW Flickr Desktops Pool). The second reason we gave this penguin-fueled desktop some time in the spotlight is because of what appears to be either some sort of dual-display setup that Ali is running, or one ultra wide display that we wouldn't mind getting our hands on. The last reason, of course, actually has to deal with the wallpaper itself: it's a great shot and we'd love to know where to snag a copy!

If you'd like to see your unique, functional or otherwise interesting desktop featured in our TUAW Desktops of the Week series, check out past featured desktops as well as the original post for the rules and to get an idea of what we're looking for. Then, upload your desktop screenshot to our TUAW Desktops Flickr group. We'll feature one or more desktops each weekend, giving credit to the desktop owner, wallpaper creator and any apps featured in the screenshot (if available). Keep those desktops rolling in!

[Update: The actual wallpaper here is the work of deviantART user el1as, titled In the dark.]

Apple's Get a Mac ads have inarguably struck a chord with both the advertising and our culture. People clearly either love 'em, hate 'em or wanna spoof 'em, and one only needs to comb our archives or check YouTube to see what we mean. Recently, Novell (yea, the Linux guys) tossed their hand into the mix with their own spoofs which debuted at their BrainShare conference (which you can attend virtually). The first video, linked here at YouTube, plays off the Win/Mac rivalry and pokes fun at how the industry often ignores Linux and its surprising (to some) user base size. The second video, embedded in this post, is arguably funnier, as it does a great job of poking fun at the way Microsoft and Apple market their products while pointing out open source software's advantage of being a community effort. They're both good for a chuckle and a nice effort from Novell, or whoever actually put them together.

Thanks, geezer.

Okay, I'll admit right up front that this is completely pointless, but nonetheless it's a nice demonstration of the power of OS X (with Parallels). Jaanus over at Skype realized they have released clients for four platforms: OS X, Windows, Linux, and Windows Mobile. He started wondering if it would be possible to run all four at the same time. Turns out, thanks to Parallels, it is. He set up two Parallels virtual machines (one for Windows and one for Linux), then within the Windows VM he ran the Windows Mobile emulator. He had a little trouble with the WM version, but eventually even got that working. Behold the Power of Mac! Also, check out his screenshot on Flickr for full notes.

[Via Download Squad]