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But I think you would be surprised by the amount of consumer electronic devices that run linux. My Toshiba TV runs linux, and it doesn't have a DVR or anything like that. None of those fancy widgets and internet connectivity. Just a plain up TV running linux.

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[It's not that I don't believe you, just curious] .. how do you know it runs Linux?

Well, I can't speak for the parent, but my Panasonic Viera TV had a little note in the on-screen menu about software licenses with a URL (and also the complete text of the GPL). I downloaded it and it included a Linux kernel. I have no idea which part runs Linux (the whole thing, or just the part that reads jpegs off of the SD cards) or if there is any good way to get a shell...

As for me, a nmap scan of my Sony TV shows that it runs a Linux kernel in the 2.6.9 - 2.6.28 range. It's likely just used for the Internet functionality and perhaps for the on-screen UI. Port 12345 is open and responds to telnet, but it's password protected and I've never been able to determine what the password would be.

Can you get at the Linux on devices like this? Could you, say, install a MythTV front end, or run Doom on it?

Just curious.

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