__/ [ BearItAll ] on Wednesday 04 October 2006 17:02 \__
> Britland seems to be last on the list when it comes to getting a Linux PDA.
Japan is probably the first. The US has a little bit of everything, as one
would expect.
> Sharp seems to be offering the most Linux-like Linux PDA, provided your
> Japanese is up to scratch, though there is a third party English Convertion
> kit. By Linux-like linux, I mean it has many tools that we are used to in
> cluding the script languages, which I see as a major brick wall in the MS
> OS based PDAs. Some of the Linux PDAs are simply a hidden OS with the same
> types of tools the MS versions have doing pretty much the same job.
I don't think Palm is any better, but there are plenty of free programs, some
of which are GPL-licensed. There's no shell-type access or API's that you
can easily access. Even proper access to your filesystem (ROM/RAM/SD)
requires that you install addon (potentially free) software such as FileZ.
It's truly a toy without any velcro at the back. But there's no venom that
should justify this...
People have been booting Linux on the Palm(s) for a long time and I hope that
Palm's new Linux-based platform will at least give the capability to access
its underlying (POSIX-like) functionality without much hassle.
> I've said it before, and I'll say it again because I am a parrot. PDAs will
> come into their own when they have a nice scripting language that joe
> bloggs off the street can manage. I use a PDA all the time but with the
> typical onboard software you very soon come to the limits of the entire
> PDA's capabilities, because you reach the point of wanting to
> script/program tasks the in the way you work or play, but the thing isn't
> capable.
Just seen the following at LinuxDevices.
D-Link to market unlocked Linux mobile phone
,----[ Quote ]
| D-Link will market an unlocked, dual-mode WiFi and GSM/GPRS phone,
| according to an online publication based in New Zealand. The "V-Click"
| phone appears to be a rebranded Linux- and Qtopia-based phone design
| created by Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) Wistron
| NeWeb Corp. (WNC).
`----
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9525079329.html
Maybe they simply address the demand (for an open phone).
> Example. My PDA is also my home and work telephone, I pay for my calls work
> pays for works calls, but they have been times when it was disputed. A
> diddy little script could pick up my call time, pop up after a call is made
> so I can select work or home, then at the end of the month print my list
> out and compare it with the auto generated list from the phone provider.
>
> A simple thing that is very scriptable, but not on the MS PDA's because
> they don't have a scripting language.
They attribute scripting to a 'cr/hacker culture'. And there's still no
proper shell built in. It's just that legacy DOS and a vulnerably bit that's
left by the wayside. It's called Monad and I have not heard from it since an
Austrian guy extracted the urine out of it.
> There are many more things, related to how I use the PDA that I could
> script if it were able.
>
> I wonder why the likes of Sharp and IBM aren't pushing their Linux PDAs
> over here. I bet your left sock I could sell a few, and I'm no salesman.
The reviewer of the article below made a similar remark. The ditribution is
too limited (geographically).
Sharp does it once again: the SL-C3200
,----[ Conclusion ]
| As I sit here writing this while listening to the Brandenburg Concertos
| off the Zaurus, life is good. Every serious Linuxer deserves a Zaurus.
`----
http://linuxgazette.net/131/howell.html
|
|
