Linux Contest That You Can Win

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Plat'Home, Linux pioneers in Japan and creators of the diminutive OpenMicroServer, are running a contest called "Will Linux Work?" They are basically asking people to submit crazy/extreme environments or ideas using their Linux servers and see if they work. Whoever has the best idea will get 5 of their OpenMicroServers shipped to them for free and be able to test their idea -- you can find all the details here.

The contest is going live tomorrow (Friday, Aug 1) and will run until September 5th.

I just finished testing the OpenBlockS microserver and would have to say that it is interesting. Its applications are many and its footprint small--just a little larger than a standard computer mouse. The device has two Ethernet connections and comes ready to serve--web pages that is. Its management interface is web-based also.

It runs a special SSD (Solid State Device) Linux with thttpd 2.25b as the web server. It can also serve as a DNS server, mail server, FTP Server, Telnet Server, DHCP server, and Firewall.

I think this little device and its big brother, the OpenMicroServer, have a lot of potential for small to medium sized businesses or even for larger companies who use instrumentation at remote sites or in harsh environments. At $499, it isn't cheap but it is well made and has a lot of possibilities.

I will be competing against you in this contest because I already have some ideas for its use. Yep, you'll be going head-to-head with the ol' Linux guy himself. Let's see if you can beat me at my own game.

Dani AI

Generated

Good find, . The most persuasive contest entries turn the small-appliance angle into a repeatable, measurable demonstration rather than just a “it works” claim. Focus on a tight hypothesis (what the device will do under a real constraint) and a test plan that proves it with logs, time stamps, and automated checks.

Strong entry ideas and the metrics to back them:

  • Resilient remote gateway: show automatic recovery from power/network loss, measured uptime over N days, and time-to-recover after interruptions.
  • Bandwidth-constrained edge cache: prove reduced upstream traffic with hit/miss stats and response-time percentiles.
  • Long-running telemetry recorder: show flash endurance/retention testing, log rotation behavior, and file-system health over a realistic workload.
    For each idea report: test duration, load profile, throughput/latency graphs, power draw (average and peak), and exact software/firmware versions used.

Practical test workflow (reproducible):

  • Define acceptance criteria (e.g., 99% of requests <200 ms, zero manual reboots for 7 days).
  • Automate tests and capture logs centrally (syslog/HTTP POST to collector).
  • Provide a short verification script and a few sample runs.
    Example simple response-time loop:
    for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
time curl -s -o /dev/null http://DEVICE_IP/
done

Documentation and submission tips:

  • Package clear step-by-step setup, hardware list, and an abbreviated runbook showing how judges can reproduce results.
  • Include time-stamped logs, short video clips of failure/recovery scenarios, and concise analysis of failure modes.
  • Call out security choices (disable insecure services, change defaults, use SSH keys) and safety limits when stress-testing networks to avoid collateral impact.

Entries that quantify reliability, show reproducible test harnesses, and include concise evidence tend to stand out.

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