An OS in ROM? The Amiga 500 memories come flooding back.<p>I guess Linux is stored in re-writable nonvolatile memory so that it can be updated when the inevitable security bugs are found.<p>If I remember correctly, on the Amiga, you had to boot from floppy disk (not everything was in ROM), and the ROM code was transferred from ROM to RAM and any patches on the floppy disk were then applied.
This is a stupid PR stunt. Linux is great and all (using it now), but everything has its place. Just as it doesn't make sense to bundle 31 Cents ice cream with all Nike shoes, it doesn't make sense to stuff Linux down all motherboards. There's a time and a place for everything; and adding features we don't need to products is just going to drive their price up, increase their complexity (and vulnerability).<p>Oh, and the penguin inside me is screaming "Score another one for the good guys!"