Offbeat: Linux Reboot at 35,000ft and Flying Grid

I was flying last month and witnessed a rather cool phenomena. We boarded the plane and the plane was equipped with built-in T V sets in every seat. So, we took off, started the climb out and were just about leveled on 35,000ft when every TV set went black and started what seemed like a Linux booting up sequence (sorry for crappy iPhone pictures):

I could not resist taking couple of snap shots and it got me thinking about how much Linux OS traveled since I first discovered it in early 1991 (it had a bizarre name “GNU” and I didn’t know what to do with it back then in Russia). It is now so ubiquities that it has found its way onto setup boxes on the airplane and Ubuntu 8.04 is the best development OS for me productivity wise (above Vista and Leopard – having both around too).

Being a grid person it also got me thinking about all these Linux-based TVs as one 300-nodes flying grid. Indeed, all of them were basic Linux-based PCs, they were connected – and so it was a grid. And not a small one! Furthermore, in any given time there are 100s of aircrafts like that in American airspace alone. In other words, we have a massive grid with tens of thousands nodes constantly above us.

I think it is an interesting observation and I’ve spend like next hour thinking about all the different ways this can be utilized in the future.

What do you think would be a killer app for that?