Running Linux as a stereo

If you shop around for a new stereo or new computer speakers you’ll be surprised at the similarity between them. The main difference is that computer speakers (while often pushing just as much sound quality out of themselves) are usually much smaller for the same price.

What this means is that a small computer is now an affordable alternative to a conventional stereo system. Computers can run any file format you give it and hard drives can store your whole music collection.

So what’s the ideal music system?
There’s a great article on O’Reilly about setting up a music station with Knoppix. It goes through installing Knoppix on an old PC (the kind you thought you didn’t need anymore) and turning something old and slow into a fantastic sound system.

If you’re really interested in doing this, I recommend setting up a secure wireless LAN in your home to allow you to put the sound system anywhere and control it from anywhere else. It’s pretty nice to carry a notebook into your kitchen that will allow you to change the songs that are playing in another room.