When it comes to exploring the boundaries of technology, some people tend to go very far in their approach. One Tesla model 3 owner dedicated to try and install the Ubuntu operating system on his car. Surprisingly, this works without too many problems and doesn’t necessarily cause any stability issues. Although not everyone wants Linux in their car, the concept creates a lot of new potential opportunities.
Running Linux on a Tesla Model 3
It is quite uncanny how people try to push their gadgets to the edge in terms of expanding its functionality. Although modifying a smartphone or computer is commonplace, messing around with the software on a new car is not necessarily something most people partake in. Especially if that car is a Tesla Model 3, which is not all that cheap either. Reddit user Trsohmers decided to take the plunge and shared some interesting findings with the rest of the world.
Contrary to what most people would expect, hacking a Tesla Model 3 is not entirely difficult. Although it requires a bit of preparation, most of the steps can be completed without experiencing any negative repercussions. That means the regular operating for the car, known as TeslaOS, is not modified by this hacking effort in the slightest. A dual-boot car is not necessarily something for everyone, but one can see some advantages.
Gaining root access to the car’s operating system is not entirely difficult, which is a bit unusual. The main purpose of exploring this administrator privilege was to install more ROMs to the built-in MAME system. Having more games at one disposal would certainly make the car more interesting to play around with. Even so, it seems this admin access led to a few other ideas worth exploring.
In the end, this Reddit user successfully installed the Ubuntu operating system on his car. It runs in parallel to the regular OS, and it seems both systems do not suffer from one another’s presence as of right now. There will undoubtedly be some limits as to how much one can do with Ubuntu before things get a bit hairy, but the options are still pretty much limitless until now Installing Linux may void one’s warranty, which is something to keep an eye on.
One interesting aspect is how the user can now SSH into the car, and execute commands remotely. This also opens the car up to remote code execution by people with less than honest intentions, thus it is not advised for Tesla owners to explore this option moving forward. Having the benefit of YouTube may effectively be useful to some, but it doesn’t necessarily outweigh the negative aspects either.
Whether or not one should tinker with the standard software on a $50,000 car, will always be subject to debate first and foremost. Every car owner is free to do as they like in this regard, yet they will also need to deal with eventual consequences. There are some interesting options to explore in this regard and it will be interesting to see if Tesla decides to disable this functionality in some way. For now, the option remains at anyone’s disposal.
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