RedPost Launches Wicker: A Customized Ubuntu for Digital Signs and Photo Frames [LWN.net]

From:		Eric Kanagy <eric-AT-theredpost.com>
To:		undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject:		RedPost Launches Wicker: A Customized Ubuntu for Digital Signs and Photo Frames
Date:		Fri, 23 May 2008 16:32:31 -0400
Message-ID:		<64559D8B-D7C4-41F8-A624-57C8E7F55426@theredpost.com>

RedPost Launches Wicker: A Customized Ubuntu for Digital Signs and  
Photo Frames

GOSHEN, Ind. -- RedPost inc., an Indiana-based web startup, today  
announced the launch of Wicker, their customized version of Ubuntu  
that runs on their digital signs.

Eric Kanagy, CEO, led the project to develop Wicker. "We've customized  
Ubuntu to make it work like a digital sign or photo frame and we  
figured we may as well offer it to the world. It's nothing too fancy  
-- it just does what it's supposed to do."

According to Kanagy, "Ubuntu arguably supports the most hardware and  
has one of the largest development communities behind it -- that's why  
we switched from DSL." Wicker's precursor was a customized version of  
DamnSmallLinux that run on the RedPost/Kit, a do-it-yourself digital  
photo frame built for the Linux hacker that SlashGear described as a  
"modder's wet dream."

Wicker is set up to boot from a USB flash drive and uses the open  
source browser Firefox as it's display engine -- essentially, anything  
that's on the web can load through Wicker. Optionally, Wicker connects  
to RedPost's Corktop software to load playlists and schedule content.  
Local image and URL options are also available.

A small team spanning ten time zones developed Wicker, starting in  
December of last year. Wicker remains in beta, with the first beta  
version released mid-April and the latest this week.

Customizations to Ubuntu to create Wicker include:
- Slimming down of Ubuntu to fit on 1GB flash drive
- loads Ubuntu from flash drive into memory and runs out of memory --  
no hard drive required
- 5 minute config process running Apache/PHP to configure Wicker's  
network and other settings
- simplified Wifi support
- Use of Fluxbox as the window manager
- Firefox cache and settings optimization

Planned features under development include:
- Integration with Ubuntu's network manager to provide additional  
network configuration options
- Scheduling of on/off time of the screen
- Graphics driver optimization
- Security improvements: locking down all ports with firewall
- MAC address displayed on config screens

More information on Wicker is available at:
http://theredpost.com/wicker/
https://launchpad.net/wicker/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/redpost/

###

RedPost Inc. is a start-up software company out of Goshen, Ind., that  
aims to replace the world's bulletin boards with digital signs.

For more information, contact:
Eric Kanagy, CEO
office: 574-971-4753
email: press@theredpost.com

(Log in to post comments)

Simpler alternative

Posted May 24, 2008 17:44 UTC (Sat) by Richard_J_Neill (subscriber, #23093) [Link]

This is a great idea. However, for anyone who wants a very simple slideshow application, may I
recommend qiv. It's relatively unknown, but has all the options desirable in a digital photo
frame. This is what I used: I took a broken T22 thinkpad, disassembled the case, took the LCD
panel to a picture framers, then mounted some of the guts, together with a 2GB CF card (with
IDE adapter) on the back of the frame. Cost about £100, for a 14" display.