The biggest problem here is NOT that you need a Linux/OSX box to be root..

The biggest problem is the stupid conditional in the gainroot script that checks to see if the machine is in R & D mode before it will let you run as root !!!

If that conditional was not there, you could do

sudo gainroot

and setup the dropbear-server to run as root when the system starts

ln -s /var/lib/install/etc/init.d/dropbear-server /etc/rc2.d/S20dropbear-server

(Note: the capital S is important... and you should have all 3 dropbear packages installed...)

Then, after a simple reboot, you can

1. connect via wi-fi manually.
2. use SSH or puTTY on your PC to login to the 770 and do "programming" from the comfort of your regular keyboard and screen.

AND GUESS WHAT? At NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE you (or your significant other) can USE the 770 AT THE SAME TIME to browse/read news/play games.... THAT'S RIGHT !!! IT'S MULTI-USER !!!

Some things you might want to do:

1. change the PATH= in /home/user/.profile and /root/.profile to include /var/lib/install/usr/bin (as seen elsewhere here) so xterm can find "installed" programs without typing War and Peace as a path name...

2. a. add a link to scp (secure copy)

ln -sf /var/lib/install/usr/bin/scp /usr/bin/scp

b. install WinSCP on your Windows PC so you can use a graphical browser on all of your 770 files, including the ability to edit them and change their permissions (without having to copy them to the MMC and without your Windows editor changing their permissions when you copy them back from your MMC.) Yessir !! you can copy files from and to your PC to the memory card or any folder WITHOUT A USB WIRE !!! Why should we be second-class citizens like wire-bound Ipod users??? We can load MP3's RIGHT THROUGH THE AIR !!! (Your mileage may vary.)

How many people would actually stumble onto sudo gainroot if they didn't know what they were looking for? Couldn't we just have gainroot ask us to type Yes each time it's run to acknowledge we know what we're doing?