have you checked this out?

http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/

it seems you can now turn ur xbox into a pc with a Pentium III 733Mhz processor, a Nvidia graphic card, 64 MB ram, 10Gb HD, network card, sound card and DVD player making it run with Linux Mandrake, in my opinion thats a cheap PC for $200...

maybe its worth a try for some uses, like mail server or a pc for teaching, but i wonder if i will be able to play my games after installing linux...

My first thought was a very dense rack of cheap web servers...

As far as the price goes - not too sure if the HD is included with the off-the-shelf Xbox. Also you need a mod chip (sites that sell them are being shut down - search /. or theregister.co.uk). Oh yeah there's some diddling involved with the USB port (to use a keyboard/mouse).

the hdd is included off the shelf

modchip easily purchased and installed (about 25$)...many sites sell em, and they are being made by the thousands as they are not illegal for their advertised use...playing backups of games which you have legally purchased. The x-box is wonderfully fun to tinker with, and yes it will run linux and act as a server. You can even stick a larger hard drive in it if you want to. However, don't attempt any of it unless you are a bit techy with a steady hand and sharp eye for soldering.

Yes, it can still play games after installing linux.

Yeah, except for the new XBoxs. MS either are plannins, or have already changed the XBox setup slightly, so the original modchips won't work. Just thought I'd let you know. Oh, and I've heard of people running Windows in VMWare on Lin4XBox... kinda slaps in the face, really!

I'd still prefer to tingle with PS2 and linux-kit, lets see I am in transition to a new ISP - speakeasy.net - when I placed an order with them they had a promotion - FREE XBox or PS2 - I went with PS2, now this is 200 bucks off, so I am thinking of putting these 200 bucks into this http://www.us.playstation.com/hardwa...SCPH-97047.asp
let's see - PS2 has 300MHz processor, but don't be fooled it is as twice as slow as xBox powered by 733 PIII, we are talking about RISC (PS2) vs Intel (xBox), 128-bit processing (PS2) vs 32-bit processing (xBox), so I am shelling out 200 plus 40 for ethernet/modem for PS2, and I'll have a sparc server powering my web, nice I say, I just wish PS2 had more memory on board, 32 Mb of RAMBUS doesn't sound impressive, but hey it is still double the speed of PC100 DIMM's, and 64Mb of DDR of xBox doubles it in size, that's the +, well I'll keep you posted as I delve into PS2-linux, I still have my DSL line inactive, and PS2 is still over a speakeasy's warehouse.

Sweet, and if can, get some pics, I'd like to see an LQ created monster

Cool

Wow, I just posted a link to PS2-linux and I didn't read it through, I don't even have to shell out 40 bucks for ethernet adapter - 10/100 Base-T adapter is included with the kit, cool.