The hardware make-up of the XBox, as can be expected, offers a great temptation to programmers who believe they should be able to turn it into a PC. After all the XBox has powerful IBM-PC-based hardware and runs a stripped-down version of the Windows 2000 kernel. Various complications, such as a Microsoft prejudiced BIOS, have delayed their efforts but a new offer, by an anonymous donor, awarding a total of US$ 200,000 for the completion of various tasks on the Xbox Linux Project until December 31st 2002, aims to change all that.
This is all part of the Linux Project, which aims to privide a version of GNU/Linux for the Xbox, so that it can be used as an ordinary computer. Linux should make use of all Xbox hardware and allow to install and run software from standard i386 Linux distributions.
The basic goal of the project is to find a simple and completely legal way to run Linux on the Microsoft Xbox.
The whole project is divided into two sub-projects, the first one consisting of four tasks.
Project A: Porting Linux to a modified Xbox:
Task 1: Replacement BIOS (software/hardware)
Task 2: Kernel and XFree drivers
Task 3: Kernel logic: FATX and miscellaneous
Task 4: XBE bootloader
Project B: Xbox hack without any hardware modification
A total of US$ 100,000 will be awarded for the completion of each of the two projects.
The money will be distributed by the anonymous donor either upon completion or after the deadline. Since their identity is known to the project leaders and well-respected, all participants can be sure that the money for goals that will have been reached will of course be distributed.
It is important to note that people who have already contributed to the project before July 1st 2002 can of course get money for their existing work as well.
