> Trisquel includes emulators too, like Zsnes and Scummvm.
Yes, but the Trisquel community isn't centered around them. Take a close look
at the OpenPandora website and you'll notice that emulators are heavily
flaunted; it's the main purpose of devices like these.
> Also these pc's are very often designed to use proprietary software like
> windows. No problem for me if I don't have to use it and can install
something
> else.
That's not the case with these devices. They are built with one particular OS
in mind (SuperZaxxon for the Pandora, OpenDingux for the GCW Zero) and
porting a different OS is non-trivial. The OpenPandora has no proper 100%
free OS running on it; just SuperZaxxon, Slackware, and a pseudo-Debian
environment inside of SuperZaxxon, and as a side note, when I brought up the
idea of making a 100% free OS work on the Pandora, there was a lot of
negative response and no indication that anyone was interested.[0] The
community in general is hostile to the free software movement and thinks it's
"extremist".[1]
So in reality, if you buy one of these devices, you are going to be entirely
on your own with a device that is less powerful and less durable than a very
cheap netbook you can get at Wal-mart, is certain to have the same
limitations you risk having with said cheap netbook (no 3-D and no WiFi), and
has no completely free OS properly working on it. If you use the OS they
designed it for without the nonfree bits, many games won't work, and the
"maintainers" of them won't care because it works for everybody else; and you
will have to manually scour the forums and software repositories to find free
software. And if it isn't the OpenPandora, you won't even have a (crappy)
keyboard built into it for all that trouble, and if it is the OpenPandora,
you will spend more money than if you actually got a more powerful laptop
from Think Penguin.
No matter how you look at it, buying one of these "open handhelds" with the
intent of running only free software on them would be incredibly foolish.
[0]
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/11076-request-completely-free-os/
[1]
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/14049-respects-your-freedom-certification/
