Linux has a strong following among those who manage corporate servers, a loyal corps of desktop users and a small but growing base of laptop users. But it's also been a big -- if stealthy -- success as a platform for gadgets.

In fact, there ought to be a Linux Gadget Hall of Fame. I'll get it started with the first group of inductees: 10 of the most important gadgets of all time, each one based on Linux.

Just as some of the inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are there because they're world-class performers, while others are honored for their innovation, I've chosen the gadgets in this roundup for various reasons. Some are high-visibility best-sellers, others are lesser-known players that blazed new trails, and some are simply the best at what they do. All are deserving of a place of honor in the Hall of Fame.

These gadgets are presented in no particular order; head on over to our reader poll to help rank them. Let's hear your nominees as well. Tell us which Linux-based gadgets you believe have been the most important in changing the consumer electronics landscape and why.

In the meantime, here are my first 10 inductees into the Linux Gadget Hall of Fame.

TiVo digital video recorder

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, television entered the U.S. mass market, forever changing how people entertain themselves. Since its introduction in 1999, TiVo has forever changed how people watch television.

Sure, the widespread adoption of VCRs in the late '70s and early '80s brought the concept of time-shifting to consumers. Instead of being anchored to your sofa during a TV show, movie or sporting event, you could record it and watch it later, fast-forwarding through commercials if you so desired.

But TiVo, the technology behind the world's first digital video recorder (DVR), brought time-shifting into the 21st century, enabling you to stop a live TV program and start it up again when you return from the kitchen, a phone call or the bathroom, or rewind for an instant replay at regular speed or in slow motion. You can automatically record individual shows, an entire season of a show or two shows simultaneously. You can search for specific actors and record everything in which they appear. And yes, you can skip the commercials.

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