FW: Linux handheld! (fwd)

[Carl Parrish]

Does anyone know when we'll be able to see myLinux??

Carl P.


Shawn T. Rutledge wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 16, 2001 at 10:49:45PM -0500, Deepak Saxena wrote:
> 
>> Seen it, played with it, it sucks.  There's a couple of reviews floating
>> around the net, and that seems to be general conclusion too.  It's a
>> great first attempt at a simple Linux based PDA, but nothing too exciting.
>> People are getting to caught up on the fact that it's Linux.  The
>> applications is all that matters in the end. IMHO, the IPAQ + Linux
>> is mucho cooler (though mucho more $$ too).
> 
> 
> I agree, the applications matter a lot, and the Agenda is too slow;
> I have doubts that they can optimize it enough unless they throw out
> X and use some other GUI toolkit.  It takes several seconds to start
> an app, whereas on the Palm it's nearly instantaneous.  I've always
> had doubts that Linux would be suited to this kind of usage as-is,
> because the runtime model is different; instead of "loading" off a 
> slow disk into RAM to run, you really want to be able to run the code
> in-place from the "disk" which is now FLASH, and also preload the data
> segments so that the apps are always running and instantaneously available.
> I think the Agenda may have achieved run-in-place, but I'm not sure; and 
> you have to start up each application.  You can multitask, but running
> too many apps at once seems to stress it a bit.  I sure hope it's not
> swapping to FLASH because that would decrease the lifetime of this 
> memory a lot.  
> 
> I have one, and I don't use it much; it's too obviously unstable as
> well as painful; it simply doesn't compete with the Palm at all.
> But it has a unique advantage in that it has a "consumer IR" port -
> you can use it as a full-power remote.  You can use a Palm as a 
> remote too, but only over a short range because the IR emitter is too
> weak.  So it still qualifies as a toy, and compared to other 
> touchscreen universal remotes, it's worth the money too.  And I can
> hope that I can write some apps which don't suck... if only I had 
> the time.  But I can't replace my Palm with it in its present form.  
> It remains to be seen whether the open source model will result in 
> such an overwhelming abundance of applications that people will want 
> it for its versatility.  Unfortunately apps are not portable across 
> the Linux PDAs - they're all different (different processors and GUI
> toolkits).  The Agenda uses the FLTK, which is not popular
> for desktop apps, so the apps generally have to be ported unless
> they happen to use only plain old Xlib or have other libs statically
> linked.  Another Linux PDA (I forget which) wisely chose GTK...
> and now that there is an X-less GTK, it might be fast and small
> too.  That would be interesting.  But hey, this is all open source
> so if somebody wants to replace the GUI implementation on the 
> Agenda, at least it's possible.
> 
> What's sad is they plan to release a ROM-only version, no FLASH.
> I hate to think of all those wonderful touchscreens going into the
> landfills because the software sucks...but maybe they will 
> be hackable, to retrofit a FLASH.  I wouldn't be surprised if both
> models use the same PC boards.
> 
> It does look as though if they can solve the power-management
> software problems, it might last as long on the batteries as a 
> Palm.  That's kindof impressive.  They also plan to release one in
> a metal case with rechargeable Li-ion battery.
> 
> BTW this is not new... the "developer edition" I have has been available
> for several months, and there are several other Linux PDAs available
> or in development, and also several non-Linux PDAs for which full
> Linux implementations (with GUIs and apps) have been developed.
> The Helio, for example (which probably has the record for cheapest
> Linux PDA so far); or some of the WinCE machines.
> 
> I think I'd rather see a Java PDA; and if Linux could be used as the
> underlying OS, fine - but application portability is more important.
> Unfortunately it requires too much processor power to get decent
> speed.  But, there was a native-Java processor announced within the
> last week or two, boasting 10x acceleration over a virtual machine
> implementation... and if memory serves they had a PDA planned.  So
> after 5 years since the idea became obvious, I might finally get my
> wish.
> 
>> On Apr 16 2001, at 10:51, Rusty Carruth was caught saying:
>> 
>>> It was only a matter of time, no?
>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thus spake "Wane, Bokar" 
>>>>>>> 
>>> Interesting
>>> 
>>> (Agenda Computing) - California-based Agenda Computing will be the first
>>> company in the world to launch a Pure Linux(tm) PDA (personal digital
>>> assistant) and lead the new revolution of futuristic, affordable Linux-based
>>> technology appliances while it prepares to challenge Palm ..."
>>> www.agendacomputing.com
>>> 
>>> <<  End forwarded message
>>