Run Linux on the Wii? Oh, WiiLi

by Kyle Orland { Nov 16th 2006 at 3:25AM }

It seems like a point of pride for hackers these days to port Linux onto any game console. We've already got versions of the ultra-portable operating system for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube. Now, days before its release, there is already a Wiki devoted to porting Linux on to the Wii.

The WiiLi project, as it's being called, hopes to expand the Wii's functionality with USB mouse/keyboard support, MAME emulation, OpenOffice document creation, and more features of a standard computer. Of course there is no known way to hack into the Wii yet, but the page is optimistic about the chances because of the system's GameCube-like architecture.

With Sony supporting and official version of Linux for the PS3 and the community hard at work on an Xbox 360 version, it seems like it's only a matter of time before the next generation of systems all run the ubiquitous OS. Will you be installing it on your next game console?

[Thanks Rayek]

Tags: linux, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Evan @ Nov 16th 2006 3:27PM

I'd like to see Linux used to run benchmarks across the systems. We'd see which is really faster - the Xenon or Cell, and we'll see have the little Wii stacks up. However, I wouldn't expect any of the consoles to come close to a PC.

Katoh @ Nov 16th 2006 4:53PM

Lol, I've been waiting for this, I was really expecting someone to just port Gamecube Linux to the Wii (in the vain of the original Zelda: Twilight Princess). But this is a little bit better, I wonder if they'll incorporate use of the Channels in it (Photo Channel, Internet Channel, Weather, News, etc...) since I remember Nintendo saying that the channels could be incorporated within games. (I wonder if the home dev kit allows this, and if there's a way to make homebrew channels)

Mr. Khan @ Nov 16th 2006 4:31PM

They forget:

The GameCube was impossible to hack, initially, because it had no USB ports, and its Ethernet connection was worthless (it had no onboard software to support Online)

The only reason that the GC was EVER hacked was because of a flaw in the PSO Episode I & II software, in which they could establish GC-PC communications,

And I believe that the Wii will be just as difficult (considering that, at launch, it will have no onboard software for communicating with the Internet) :(
Once Opera comes out, this will be cake, as long as they have the old structure memorized