CNET News: Hacker Cracks Xbox Challenge

“An anonymous hacker has succeeded in running Linux on an
unmodified Xbox, apparently satisfying a $100,000 challenge funded
by Lindows founder Michael Robertson.

“A hacker using the name Habibi-Xbox revealed the exploit
Saturday in a message posted on the Xbox Hacker Web site.
Organizers of the Xbox-Linux Project confirmed the method
works.

“The trick involves the ‘save/load game’ function in the James
Bond game ‘007: Agent Under Fire,’ which normally allows players to
save a file recording their progress in the game to the Xbox’s hard
drive and later reload it. Habibi found that by using one of
several USB storage devices recognized by the Xbox, the ‘load game’
screen can also be used to load other software, including compact
versions of the Linux operating system…”

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