The Linux Ninja

So, if you’re like me and have voided the warranties of all the other electronics in your house, but have yet to sink your teeth into your poor little Western Digital MyBook World – likely cowering in the corner pleading for you to put down the screwdriver – here are some helpful resources on getting the most out this handy little NAS box that just so happens to be running BusyBox linux.

The first place to check out is http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/ for a fairly robust collection of tutorials and links about the MyBook World as well some very helpful user forums for troubleshooting.

From here you can learn how to enable SSH access and set up the Optware package manager for installing precompiled applications. Now you can expand the capabilities of your MyBook exponentially and actually find a use for the worthless USB port by turning it into a print server. Other potential uses for your newly empowered MyBook include converting it into a media server, making it a dedicated torrent download box, installing lighthttp for a webserver, and much more. All of the tutorials can be found here.

Also, make sure to check out the troubleshooting guide and the rescue procedure tutorial for if when you break it. See, this is why we can’t have nice things.