Linux on Your PDA
Pages: 1, 2, 3
The PDA environment: Can Linux deliver?
A Personal Digital Assistant is, by definition, more than just a computer that you can hold in your hand or some other small embedded device. In the PDA world, the OS doesn't matter, it's all about the "Personal Information Management" (PIM) applications and the ease of interactivity. Can the users do what they want to do quickly, and with a minimum of input? Do the applications present consistent interfaces? Do the text input methods work reliably?
These were questions the Palm creators spent a lot of time considering. And overall they did a pretty good job -- Palm applications are minimalist, but get the job done with the resources available to them. Avoiding Newton's mistakes with trying to go too far with handwriting recognition, the Palm OS constrains the list of acceptable input strokes, making the human adapt to it instead.
Thus, to be considered a contender in the PDA marketplace, Linux needs to offer the same kind of ease of use and consistency delivered by the other available platforms and their supported software. The pieces to choose from to create this environment are wide and varied, with a lot of experimentation going on right now to try to figure out which way(s) are best.
For example, the graphical and windowing environments. Is X Windows the best solution? It sure makes the porting of applications a snap, and you can do cool things like import and export displays from and to other computers running X Windows.
But it's not known for being the lightest solution around -- perhaps a direct-to-framebuffer approach would be better? Alternatives include the Microwindows system and G.Mate's W Windows. It is perhaps illustrative that few applications have appeared for W Windows, and G.Mate has just formally announced it is abandoning it in favor of X.
The choices for widget sets presents similar issues -- do you install GTK+, with all its features and storage requirements, or something smaller and more practical like FLTK? You only get to choose one or two -- you don't have room to waste.
And you may still need a window manager. Perhaps something nice and light like Blackbox. Last, you'll need a way of getting characters into the applications given only mouse movements. The preferred method is by some form of handwriting recognition, but sometimes a virtual keyboard is simply faster.
Oh, and let's not forget about the PIM software itself -- the reason we started this whole exercise in the first place. A good choice for basic Palm-like applications is Agenda Computing's PIM suite. For a completely different approach, there's the very flashy PocketLinux environment, implemented with the Java virtual machine clone Kaffe.
In addition to the free and open-source offerings, Trolltech also provides a complete user experience with its Qt Palmtop Environment. It has licensing restrictions, however, which may turn off some developers.
Wow. Quite a list, and it's by no means complete. To make things even more interesting, different bits and pieces can be combined to customize the environment delivered, much like desktop users swap out their Window and Desktop managers from time to time to suit their tastes and needs.
So, can Linux compete?
The short answer is a definite yes.
The longer answer is a bit more hesitant, for three reasons. The first is that Linux is starting from behind in the hand-held field, and thus it will continue to have less software than its peers, at least to start. On the other hand, with software porting made relatively easy because of having a true Linux environment as the target, this shouldn't be too much of a problem for too long.
The second issue has to do with my comment above about the importance of the user experience. To be accepted by mainstream PDA users, the devices they rely on to organize their lives and business must simply work. Immediately, and without fuss, failure or frustration. Like the 24/7 production server environment, stability and consistency is more important on a PDA than some gee-whiz advance.
This concern is somewhat alleviated by the fact that the critical PIM applications are being developed by commercial entities such as Agenda Computing, who will be highly motivated to complete the non-thrilling software development work sometimes needed to complete an application suite.
Another excellent sign has been the amount of code sharing that has been taking place amongst both kernel and user-space programmers working on different platforms. The aforementioned Agenda PIM suite is likely to become a standard for many Linux PDAs.
The third reason for concern has less to do with the community's ability to produce quality code, and everything to do with closed data formats. WinCE comes with Microsoft Word, Excel, Media Player and eBook, all reading and writing closed and undocumented file formats. Will open-source applications and formats win the day?
Machine details
In the next three articles, we take a hands-on look at the Agenda VR3, the G.Mate Yopy, and the Compaq iPAQ.
Chris Halsall is the Managing Director of Ideas 4 Lease (Barbados). Chris is a specialist... at automating information gathering and presentation systems.
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Showing messages 1 through 10 of 10.
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Would you consider switching to a Linux-based pda.
2003-02-16 16:19:01 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I don't have a pda right now, but I won't buy one that can't run Linux!
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linux on pda
2001-05-21 06:36:15 tmouser [Reply | View]
The momemt there is a commercially available pda with linux on it
I will purhase it.
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Linux on Blackberry
2001-05-19 06:48:56 jabbarfagan [Reply | View]
It is a natural fit for a text based OS. What do you think?
Is anybody working on a port?
JB
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Thoughts on Agenda
2001-05-17 17:04:26 billkendrick [Reply | View]
I just wanted to chime in. First off, I enjoyed
the article.
I purchased a developers edition of the Agenda
a few months after hearing about it and signing
up for as a 'developer.'
Since then, I've been amazed at both how nifty the
device is in general (hand a cheap PDA with a
Tux penguin logo on the case running a Bash prompt
in an Xterm under X-Window to a fellow Linux
enthusiast and you're sure to make him/her go
berzerk! :) ), as well as how fast the development
has moved.
When I first got my Agenda, it was a bit slow,
not very useful for real life applications, and
the handwriting regonition was nearly unusable.
Since then, and due in no small part to Agenda's
openness with the development and testing
community, this has all changed. Each new update
of the kernel and stock software that they come
out with is leaps above the previous version.
From a developer's standpoint, I've found the
Agenda to be extremely fun to code for. While
I'm not versed in (and don't really like) C++,
FLTK hasn't been too much of a headache.
My first "hello world" application was a clone
of "Mirror" (you know, the program that turns the
Palm's display all black so you can see
reflections).
Since then, I began work on porting two existing
X11 Unix/Linux programs (an Atari computer
emulator and an Atari 2600 emulator), wrote an
Xlib-based space-invaders clone (which the folks
at Agenda liked so much, they've included it in
the base system!), and just last night I began
writing a Breakout clone. (Can you tell I like
games?)
I'd have a Yopy to play with and develop on,
too... except they cost $800 for a dev. edition
instead of $180. :)
-bill!
(getting very close to selling his old PalmIII)
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Free
2001-05-16 14:06:24 boud [Reply | View]
> As to my comments about QPE/Qt, I stand by them.
> The license limiting usage to free (as in beer)
> development has a cooling effect on developers.
> Empirical: compare the number of apps produced
> for Qt/E vs. X/FLTK.
Try telling rms that the GPL means free
(as in beer)...
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Yopy, and QPE & Qt/Embedded.
2001-05-15 16:32:57 chalsall [Reply | View]
With regards to Yopy availability, the latest word
is consumer (non-developer) product will not be
available until the third quarter of this year, at
the earliest. While G.Mate claimed to have the
"First Linux handheld", they're unforunately not
going to be the first to market.
As to my comments about QPE/Qt, I stand by them.
The license limiting usage to free (as in beer)
development has a cooling effect on developers.
Empirical: compare the number of apps produced
for Qt/E vs. X/FLTK.
Not meaning to cause a war here, but I think a big
factor of Linux handhelds is the Free nature of
the environments. At least in the beginning, when
the market is largely made up of geeks wanting
true Linux (with all that implies.)
Best.
-Chris
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QPE - you won't get more Free
2001-05-15 12:45:15 boud [Reply | View]
To quote the article:
> In addition to the free and open-source offerings,
> Trolltech also provides a complete user experience
> with its Qt Palmtop Environment.
QPE and Qt/Embedded are bot released under the GPL -
can you get more purely free and Open Source than
that? The above paragraph hints at all kinds of
dark and closed commercialisms, but the simple
fact is that QPE is open source, and free.
Yes, you can buy a commercial license if you want
to create a closed-source solution. But if that's
your plan, you're hardly likely to buy into the
open source philosophy...
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Yopy Availability
2001-05-14 23:36:26 Derrick Story |
[Reply | View]
Getting your hands on a Yopy can become a test of endurance. I've been following this story for a year now, and the Linux PDA has been on the verge of release for nearly that entire time.
Dates are set, then dates are moved back. The latest date, I believe, is for late May, which is only a few weeks away. If I hear of anything promising, I'll post a notice.
