Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
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Printer server (the cost of a Slug can be less than the difference between a USB printer and its
networked equivalent, although this is less of a difference than it once was)
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Media server (shared through Squeezebox Server, iTunes, or just Samba)
Before any software changes take place, you must first install an unrestricted version of Linux into the firmware
of the device, which takes place through its built-in web interface. There are two main variations here: Unslung
(which uses Optware packages) and SlugOS (formally called OpenSlug) based around OpenEmbedded.
Unslung
For basic improvements and a minimal of fuss, Unslung (
www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Unslung/HomePage
) is the
preferred option because it installs over the top of the existing firmware and appears very similar to the end user, since it
is based on the original Linksys code. This firmware provides extra functionality such as the ability to use FAT-formatted
disks, which is necessary if you want to use an existing hard drive, as any disk used in the Slug needs to be specially
formatted (to ext3) before use.
It is also possible to install extra software packages through Optware using commands like the following:
ipkg install apache
However, you need to be careful as they are installed to the internal flash memory, which can run out very quickly
and therefore lead to an unbootable device. To prevent this, you need to move the operating system onto either one
of the external drives (either a USB memory stick or an entire hard drive, depending on the scope and size of your
intended additions) in a process known as “unslinging your Slug.” Alternatively, you can perform a hardware hack to
increase the memory.
Several hundred packages are available for an unslung Slug, including the following:
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BitTorrent clients
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Streamers for Xbox Media Server
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Apache web server
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Asterisk VoIP
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CUPS
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Git
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MySQL
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SSH
As you can see, most major packages are available, making this a very low-power machine, capable of providing
most home tasks. However, they are all limited by the 2.4 kernel, so for more exotic hardware (like Bluetooth), you will
need to adopt SlugOS.
SlugOS
SlugOS is a much larger endeavor and treats the Slug like any other piece of hardware, with a base operating system
and separate packages for the main functionality, fitting in with the traditional Unix ideology of “do one thing and do
it well.” This also removes the Slug-specific functionality such as the web-based configuration tool and basic services
such as Samba that you will consequently have to explicitly install.
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