The world of open source is structured to invite unusual, often downright quirky contributions from people with unusual skills, and that inevitably leads to offbeat inventions. On the Linux front, especially because of easily executed embedded Linux concepts, both hardware and software inventions of the quirky type appear regularly. Some of them are quite useful, some of them are fun, and some are both. Here are five products and inventions based on Linux that Rube Goldberg might have been envious of.

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The world of open source includes many quirky and unusual applications, some of which can be quite useful. There are also many new efforts to apply open source principles to hardware designs. In this post rounding up four unusual open source implementations, you'll find an offbeat attempt to crowdsource hardware, two open source browsers that you may not use even though they offer uniquely good features, and an instant-on Linux desktop that you can only get for free for the next few weeks.