On Tue, 2004-01-13 at 18:13, Brent Thomson wrote:
> Hey, all. I know there are many of you that have a handheld computer,
> and I assume many of your handheld OSes are Linux-based (even if that's
> not how the device came). I'd love to hear about your experiences with
> different Linux-running models. Specifically:

I use (occasionally) a Zaurus, running linux.  It used to run Qtopia,
but now I run OPIE, which is a fork of Qtopia.

> 
> 1. How good is the user interface?

Very good.  See http://opie.handhelds.org.  I prefer an X11-based
environment (yes, even for a pda), so I'm going to try gpe
(http://gpe.handhelds.org) some day.

> 2. Is the source code for the OS easy to obtain?

Yes of course.  The complete os source code in the openzaurus linux
distro is available from http://www.openzaurus.org.

> 3. Have you tried writing your own applications?
Yes a bit.  It's as easy as desktop apps, except for the small screen
that you have to take into account.  Designing apps for pdas takes a lot
of design skill.

Anyway, the developers of opie and gpe do all their developing and
debuggin on a desktop platform, and then port to the pda using a
cross-compiler.

> 4. What kind of connectivity to a full-size PC can you use?

I use wireless (802.11b) or tcp/ip over usb link.

> 5. Any other merits or shortcomings you've found.

The zaurus is a bit to big for the pocket.  But it has a nice keyboard
(for your thumbs, anyway), that I've actually used to write code with.

Doing any kind of major inputting with a stylus, using what ever system
is a pain.


Michael

> 


> Thanks,
> -Brent
> 
> 
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-- 
Michael Torrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

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