Linux or netbsd on the blackberry
 

I'm looking at an old blackberry here and the box says "Intel386 processor" as part of the specs. I took it apart and it does have a 386 in it. Apparently even some of the color ones do as well.

Now I realize these aren't cheap but we've got a box of them here that are older ones and such.

Ok it's a pipe dream but I'm sure it would be possible.

The hardware is very high security and proprietary, so probably would take thousands of hours of effort to port Linux to it. Not impossible, but extremely difficult.

As far as I know, there are security mechanisms that prevent non-RIM operating systems to be installed on the BlackBerry hardware. It'd be like trying to port Linux to Microsoft X-Box without modifying the X-Box (They eventually did, but it was amazingly difficult and time-expensive to accomplish)

Only the 2 850/857 950/957 have the i386 in it. All the newer java models have an ARM processor I believe. In those old devices you could probably get linux or something on it. They made that mistake once and allowed Good to write software for their hardware. This time around there is a ridiculous amount of cryptographic protection on the Java blackberries. This is exactly like the xbox and the only way to get around it would be to a) find out RIM's public key (a daunting task) or b) finding a buffer overrun somewhere so you can launch your own unprotected code. Either way it will be as Mark said a time intensive search. The xbox took over a year before a modchip came out for it to circumvent the crypto protection.

Wouldn't it be fun cracking open blackberries to solder a new chip into it just to run linux on the thing? lol

A "modchip", in a sense. If there was a market for it. But I do not think RIM would allow that, and would do a lawsuit. We should be nice to RIM, as we all want to be on the good side of RIM.

RIM definitely learned from the mistake of Good Technology, and put a lot of cryptography in the hardware, which is probably patented as well.

And there's definitely not as many BlackBerries as XBoxes, and the hacker market for BlackBerries isn't big. (At the moment, anyway.)

ftp://ftp.arm.linux.org.uk/pub/armlinux/

ARM processor support tools, distributions, and info pertaining to Linux.

I think Linux on BB would be neat... So, here's the ball, and it's rolling...