Smaller than a DVD case, the mintBox is based on CompuLab's fit-PC3 and embellished with "a green retro-lit Linux Mint logo," Lefebvre explained. Featuring a die-cast solid-metal case and an internal 250GB hard-drive, the fan-free device is also completely silent, he said.

Included in the easily hackable mintBox are eight USB ports along with Ethernet, Wi-fi, and Bluetooth, and an HDMI port and DVI adapter. So, too, of course, is .

Two Models Available

Both basic and professional models of the mintBox are available. Priced at $476, the basic model features a 1.0 GHz dual core APU G-T40N and 4GB of RAM; the $549 professional model offers a 1.65 GHz dual core APU G-T56N and 8GB of RAM.

Both can now be ordered directly ; 10 percent of each sale goes to the Linux Mint project.