

Ubuntu running on a Kindle 2 - yan
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/09/02/photo-and-descriptio.html

======
blasdel
A portable computer running my software with free lifetime Sprint EVDO
'Whispernet' access would be _really_ useful to me.

I'm curious if Amazon put in any safeguards against this:

    
    
      Does the normal Kindle webbrowser proxy via Amazon?
      Does it normally have routes to the public internet?
      Does the cell modem require keys to run?
      Do they tie the modem's subscriber ID to the user's Amazon ID?
      Do they or Sprint have systems keeping tabs on per-user usage?
      Would it be feasible to tether to a PC as a USB gadget?

~~~
nirmal
I can answer some of these from my poking around. I have a Kindle DX.

1) Yes, the browser proxies through amazon.

2) I'm not sure what you mean but you can pretty much pull up any website you
want.

3) Not sure about this question.

4) Yes, each device is tied to your amazon account.

5) I think someone inside Sprint or Amazon would have to answer this.

6) There are hacks to attach it to a PC in USBNET mode.

~~~
blasdel
You misinterpreted most of my questions :/

2) I'm asking if the device can open a direct socket to a host on the public
internet. Your answer to (1) implies that the device might not be able to talk
to anything but amazon's (potentially non-HTTP) servers, but it might just be
for MiTM reformatting (like Opera Mini)

4) _Of course_ the device is tied to your Amazon ID. I'm asking if the
_modem's_ permanent radio ID is a part of that

6) That feature is for _avoiding_ the use of the modem, not bridging it! It's
only a first step towards tethering. By default it lets the Kindle use the
PC's internet connection, not the other way around (which is all that I care
about)

------
chris11
I wonder if this means you could get LaTeX documents to be readable on the
Kindle. I have a few free math books that are in LaTeX, so this would be
useful to me.

~~~
almost
Apparently you can convert PDFs to a Kindle viewable format, if that's true
then you can convert LaTeX documents by way of PDF.

~~~
chris11
Yeah I'm certain that you can, but I'm not sure how well it would convert
though. I've read that pdf's won't convert well if there is a lot of graphics
in the file. And I would expect that some of the text would be treated as
graphics since I'm not really aware of any common text format that handles
mathematical symbols well.

------
puredemo
Is it possible to use much of a GUI with it?

~~~
anigbrowl
If you follow the links he has X running on it, but the refresh rate is slow,
for obvious reasons: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/obra/3702221011/> (< video)

------
KevinKaske
But does it run Linux? Oh... Wait.

