I have been toying with the same as a hobby project.

The wishlist in short:

- Low power
- Suitable for marine use. Well engineered and splash proof.
- No moving parts, possibly except HDD. Certainly no fans.
- Low power
- Open source software. We do not want the machine to die 10 days from port
due to some MS virus or other hazzle.
- Server facilities as on-board e-mail server, DHCP, DNS, printer, file, X
etc for connected crew lap tops and others.
- Lots of I/O
- Low power
- Supporting logging, navigation, automation etc on board
- Providing entertainement, DVD, MP3, e-books etc
- Low power
- Automatic e-mail forwarding and fetching via SSB, GPRS, Satellite, WLAN or
whatever is available, cheep and chereful at the time
- Low power

and finally

- Low power

One could also think of having a second low power battery operated wireless
thin client in cockpit while sailing near land for navigation, radar image
or similar.

ottar