A group of programmers working to expand the reach of Linux software to video game consoles and other computing devices on Tuesday released a program intended as a first step toward running the free software system on Nintendo Co. Ltd."s GameCube. The program, called "Linuxpreview," causes the GameCube to draw an on-screen picture of Tux, the penguin Linux logo. The GameCube Linux Project has made the program available to download from its Web site (https://www.gc-linux.org).
The leaders of the project, some of whom come from a project to port Linux to Microsoft Corp."s Xbox, were not immediately available to comment. On their home page, project leaders suggested a Linux-powered GameCube could eventually be used as a server, a multimedia terminal, or a desktop client computer connected to a server. The console is powered by a version of International Business Machines Corp."s PowerPC chip and is considered the least powerful of the three major game consoles, although the Web site notes "as it is a computer with decent RAM and a good CPU, it makes sense to port Linux to this platform."