A couple of years ago, I got a Linksys NS-LU2, basically a mini Linux embedded server with USB ports for external drives.  I’m using that to play around with Debian, a distribution of Linux.  I’d fogotten the good hacker vibes I get, watching source compile.  Mmmm….source code….

Moving on…

This Debian box will end up running a basic file server for backups and then a piece of software called Mediatomb, a UPnP streaming server for my Xbox360.  This will allow us to watch movies, TV shows and listen to music without a true dedicated computer running 24×7.  It’s the cheap/free way to get features that many companies roll in to a dedicated piece of hardware, as long as you’re willing to do the hard work yourself.