I've never seen one of these, but I assume it performs other functions - surely monitoring sensors, probably reporting that data, maybe allowing triggering maintenance functions, etc.

That said, processing and storage is so cheap on this scale that it's probably better (and cheaper) to go with a tried and true, widely supported system, than it is to optimize with custom hardware/firmware.

a whole linux system isn't even all that crazy. if it runs doom it can probably also run linux so probably everything from a potato to a dog's left testicle can run linux.

I feel like that isn't that far fetched, considering this machine probably has some sort of Internet connectivity so you can update the labels remotely and do other remote maintenance/monitoring tasks.

Wouldn't be surprised if they ran animated splash.

Hell, wouldn't be surprised if they started pushing ads through the screens.