OK, since there's at least a bit of interest, I'll keep posting here until people tell me to go away.
First of all, the basic setup. I'm using stock Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) on a Dell Inspiron laptop. I have a Treo 700p. I'm using the gpilotd daemon rather than the jpilot as I am using Evolution, and gpilotd supposedly works better than jpilot with evolution. OK - first question. A look at my /proc/bus/usb/devices/ shows the below report: T: Bus=04 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 Cnt=02 Dev#= 7 Spd=12 MxCh= 0 D: Ver= 1.10 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=16 #Cfgs= 1 P: Vendor=0830 ProdID=0061 Rev= 1.00 S: Manufacturer=Palm, Inc. S: Product=Palm Handheld S: SerialNumber=PalmSN12345678 C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=c0 MxPwr=500mA I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 4 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=(none) E: Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms E: Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms E: Ad=86(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms E: Ad=07(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms Which is nice. But... I doubt the serial number, and I'm wondering about the Vendor and ProdID codes. You see .. As per the instructions to setup a Palm device here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PalmDeviceSetup ..I inserted my 700p into the /usr/share/gnome-pilot/devices.xm file using the above vendor and product ID. However, looking elsewhere in the same file, that same id is already assigned to a Zire 31. It doesn't seem likely that they have the same id....so what's going on here? How do I find the "real" product ID for a Treo 700p? Is this affecting anything? Ok, that's enough for the moment. I have another issue pending, but one at a time. For those that are interested, I would say that my integration between my Treo and Ubuntu is about 50% so far (I've been working on this about a month now). Basic functionality (with one exception - stay tuned to next week's Puzzler) is good. However, big things still to work out: 1) Bluetooth sync (which is supposedly possible.) 2) Installing a mail ap on the Treo and having it sync to the desktop. I should explain that I use my Treo as an organizer and a phone, but I don't have an email/data plan. Honestly, I don't want one, either, but it would be nice to be able to process email off-line on the Treo and then send upon my next sync. I think Versamail will work for this, but I'm not sure. 3) Running desktop side "helper" applications within Wine or another Windows emulator or native to Linux. For instance, I use SplashID quite a bit. It's got a nice Windows desktop organizer which can streamline the process of entering and managing passwords and data. It would be nice to use it. 4) An Open Office equivalent of Documents to Go. (that one's pie in the sky, I think) 5) Ditto for the Adobe Acrobat Reader helper app. (The basic reader on the Treo works great, though.) [Linux_advocacy_mode] For me, Ubuntu was...not hard. This Inspiron was purchased from Dell with Ubuntu preinstalled (which was from here, by the way: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn ) but it's my fourth machine (fifth, if you count a old dual-boot machine) in 12 years with some flavor of Linux and my third with Ubuntu (which is by far the easiest version of the lot so far). I also run Windows at work, have run Apple machines in the past and still keep one machine here at home with XP (mostly for gaming.) My home network consists of this Ubuntu laptop, a Ubuntu-only desktop machine, a Windows machine, and a Ubuntu server (which is essentially just a place for media storage and a laser printer.) Anyway, here's the thing on Linux. Ubuntu (and any version of Linux) takes a bit more thought than Windows might usually, but I enjoy it, and don't find that it affects my productivity - once I get my questions answered. You do have to take the time to ask the questions, though. If you're interested in switching or trying it out, I would recommend trying either Ubuntu or Freespire. Freespire (or its commercial derivative, Linspire) is possibly a bit more "approachable" than Ubuntu - it was specifically designed with the needs of a Windows "switcher" in mind. However, it's based on KDE, and I've grown to prefer GNOME (Ubuntu)...and if you don't understand what I just said, use Freespire - you'll be just fine :^) Also, with either system, you can get a "live CD" - a CD you can stick into your drive and boot from. This can allow you to try out Linux with no lasting changes (although it will run a bit slowly - CD speeds are much slower than hard drive.) Both also provide support for "dual-boot" - you can have Windows and Ubuntu on the same disc and pick one when you start up, allowing you to try them side-by-side. Try it! It may or may not work as well or better for you. (You certainly can't beat the value for the price, though!) For me? The final straw to switch completely (ok, mostly) was a growing familiarity, the widening support for and adoption of Ubuntu, and the price of Vista upgrades....however, there are as many right answers as there are people, so whatever works for you! [/Linux_advocacy_mode] Thanks for reading - I hope someone may have a suggestion on the above question. Regards - Richard T Perry [EMAIL PROTECTED]
