Slashdot Mirror

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices has profiled a new portable game- and media-player based on embedded Linux. The GPX2-F100 features dual ARM9 processors, USB 2.0, a 3.5-inch color LCD, and support for both native and emulated games. A Linux SDK (software development kit) will be available when the device ships. Hmmm... I wonder how hard it'll be to get GPE and OPIE running on it?"

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices has profiled a new portable game- and media-player based on embedded Linux. The GPX2-F100 features dual ARM9 processors, USB 2.0, a 3.5-inch color LCD, and support for both native and emulated games. A Linux SDK (software development kit) will be available when the device ships. Hmmm... I wonder how hard it'll be to get GPE and OPIE running on it?"

Venture37 writes "the guys at handhelds.org have managed to boot the linux kernel on a Dell Axim X50 handheld, the project is at alpha stages, you can grab a copy of the files from handhelds.org or fisherss.com."

Venture37 writes "the guys at handhelds.org have managed to boot the linux kernel on a Dell Axim X50 handheld, the project is at alpha stages, you can grab a copy of the files from handhelds.org or fisherss.com."

ngyahloon writes "Just got this from Handhelds.org: A free online course on Embedded Linux. The best thing of all is that it's released under the GNU Free Documentation License. The course is provided by Free Electrons , an organization devoted to promoting Free Software and Open Standards in embedded systems and handheld devices. Free Electrons is located close to Sophia Antipolis (region of Nice and Cannes), France (nice place for a Holiday) and targets organizations and individuals throughout the world."

toarney writes "This is a few days old, but I just noticed that OpenZaurus 3.5.1 was released on 9/19/04. It is the first release based on the OpenEmbedded build system. You can get it in Opie or GPE Palmtop Environment flavors. Now if I could just get that 'magic bullet' program to compile on my Zaurus."

toarney writes "This is a few days old, but I just noticed that OpenZaurus 3.5.1 was released on 9/19/04. It is the first release based on the OpenEmbedded build system. You can get it in Opie or GPE Palmtop Environment flavors. Now if I could just get that 'magic bullet' program to compile on my Zaurus."

prisonernumber7 writes "X.org is showing a lot of progress! The combination of the XFixes extension, Damage extension, Composite extension and XEvIE (X Event Interception Extension) present in X11R6.8 present user interface designers with a wide range of here-to-fore difficult to achieve possibilities. What does this mean for the enduser? That's window shadows and window shadows within windows as well as true translucency for the OSS community. Good samples of Gnome and KDE desktops with drop shadows, and so on can be found here, here, here, here, here, translucency here, here and here, and its use on handhelds running Linux."

An anonymous reader writes "The Open Palmtop Integrated Environment (Opie) project to develop a free graphical application environment for Linux handhelds and webpads has released a software development kit (SDK) based on the KDevelop3 open source IDE. The Opie SDK provides tools for developing open, professional-class applications for Linux based mobile and embedded devices running under the Opie platform, according to Opie hacker Oliver 'Groucho' Fels. In case you're wondering, Opie is a fork of Trolltech's Qtopia, a palmtop application stack popularized by Sharp's Zaurus line and other PDAs and handhelds. Opie features a sophisticated personal information (PIM) framework as well as several other productivity apps, extended multimedia capabilities and document model, networking and communication tools, and support for more than a dozen languages."

Werner Heuser writes " Thanks to the work of Michael Tuschik OPIE 1.0.3 is now available for the original ROMs provided by Sharp. OPIE is an Open Source User Interface and Apps for Linux PDAs built on Qt Embedded. You don't need a special version of "ipkg". Install via shipped package manager. Michael wrote at the OPIE mailing list: "NOTE: The Opie PIM applications will replace the original Sharp apps but use its own "old" data format (applies to Sharp ROM 3.1x and derivates). On uninstall the SHARP apps will be restored.""

Werner Heuser writes " Thanks to the work of Michael Tuschik OPIE 1.0.3 is now available for the original ROMs provided by Sharp. OPIE is an Open Source User Interface and Apps for Linux PDAs built on Qt Embedded. You don't need a special version of "ipkg". Install via shipped package manager. Michael wrote at the OPIE mailing list: "NOTE: The Opie PIM applications will replace the original Sharp apps but use its own "old" data format (applies to Sharp ROM 3.1x and derivates). On uninstall the SHARP apps will be restored.""

Russ Nelson writes "The Handhelds.org project has released Familiar 0.7.2, a Linux-based firmware replacement for HP iPAQ handhelds. New to this release is support for the h5400 and h5500, which have built-in wlan interfaces. Both GPE (gtk/X) and Opie (Qt) are at or past version 1.0, and we now have a Python-gtk distribution called 'pypaq'. Why waste that commute time playing Tetris when you could be hacking on Python code?"

Russ Nelson writes "The Handhelds.org project has released Familiar 0.7.2, a Linux-based firmware replacement for HP iPAQ handhelds. New to this release is support for the h5400 and h5500, which have built-in wlan interfaces. Both GPE (gtk/X) and Opie (Qt) are at or past version 1.0, and we now have a Python-gtk distribution called 'pypaq'. Why waste that commute time playing Tetris when you could be hacking on Python code?"

Russ Nelson writes "The Handhelds.org project has released Familiar 0.7.2, a Linux-based firmware replacement for HP iPAQ handhelds. New to this release is support for the h5400 and h5500, which have built-in wlan interfaces. Both GPE (gtk/X) and Opie (Qt) are at or past version 1.0, and we now have a Python-gtk distribution called 'pypaq'. Why waste that commute time playing Tetris when you could be hacking on Python code?"

Russ Nelson writes "The Handhelds.org project has released Familiar 0.7.2, a Linux-based firmware replacement for HP iPAQ handhelds. New to this release is support for the h5400 and h5500, which have built-in wlan interfaces. Both GPE (gtk/X) and Opie (Qt) are at or past version 1.0, and we now have a Python-gtk distribution called 'pypaq'. Why waste that commute time playing Tetris when you could be hacking on Python code?"

Matthew Garrett writes "You've covered dasher before, but the source code is now available for download under the GPL. There's also now documentation for developers who want to port Dasher to other platforms - there's currently Windows and GTK front ends, plus experimental GTK2 code and ports to the GPE and Opie Linux PDA environments being worked on, and optional integration with the Gnome accessibilty framework is on the cards. Anyone fancy a MacOS port?"

Matthew Garrett writes "You've covered dasher before, but the source code is now available for download under the GPL. There's also now documentation for developers who want to port Dasher to other platforms - there's currently Windows and GTK front ends, plus experimental GTK2 code and ports to the GPE and Opie Linux PDA environments being worked on, and optional integration with the Gnome accessibilty framework is on the cards. Anyone fancy a MacOS port?"

Slashback with more on Bill Gates' comments on bugs in Microsoft's code, the recent compromising of millions of credit card numbers, more .uk domain waffling, and more, including a foolproof way to stop anyone from reading data off of your discarded hard drive's platters.

Let me just slide your card a few dozen more times ... Any Web Loco writes "Following on from this piece on /., this story in the Sydney Morning Herald tells us that the company that got hacked (exposing up to 8 million credit card numbers) was Data Processors International. Not much to the story, but we now know who it was."

Another reason to be cautious about domains with "uk" in them. An anonymous reader writes "The Register reports that Nominet has looked at opening .net.uk up or killing it off and then decided it can't decide. The chair of sub-committee responsible, Clive Feather, is currently standing for re-election to Nominets Policy Advisory Board. The sub-committee he chaired had suggested shutting down net.uk entirely, which the main board rejected. His position must surely be under scrutiny by the internet community."

Interesting bugs are in the teeth of the beholder. dvdweyer writes "I myself do remember having read the whole interview with Bill Gates in Focus, a German weekly news magazine (their online service now seems to be part of MSN *yuck*). There are however resources online which provide full sources, in English, most notably RISKS in issue 17.43 (not 17.42) with a follow-up in issue 17.44."

When fan-subs just aren't what you want. May Kasahara writes "Studio Ghibli fansite Nausicaa.net now has official release dates for Region 1 DVDs of Kiki's Delivery Service , Laputa: Castle in the Sky , and Spirited Away , as well as official preview artwork of the disks and packaging. As a side note, the site now has a page up for Miyazaki's upcoming Howl's Magic Castle . See you at the video store on April 15!"

Fonts make your terminal much more useful. Russ Nelson writes "The Bitstream Vera fonts are available for trial use. Bitstream is still tweaking them, so they're under the provisional "no redistribution" license. You can download them yourself, though, and in about a month, put them in your software distribution. Kudos to X co-creator Jim Gettys for finally getting X some professional-quality fonts."

Dear Mr. Ashcroft: I hope you find this slag useful. eecue writes "Due to the recent MIT study concerning data recovery from old hard drives, we decided that the only foolproof means of data removal was complete destruction."

An anonymous reader writes "In this technical article at LinuxDevices.com, Matchbox project leader Matthew Allum introduces his creation Matchbox: a small footprint window manager for PDAs and other resource-constrained embedded devices. Allum recalls why he decided to embark on the project, outlines its key objectives, describes its architecture and unique characteristics, and ponders its future. Cool piece of software; good read."

MartinG writes "According to the news at handhelds.org "HP/Compaq merger completed. HP Jornada will be discontinued in favor of HP iPAQ. HP Labs will continue to support Linux on the iPAQ. In particular, we plan to complete the Linux port to the Jornada 56x." I couldn't see any further details, but interesting news nonetheless."

ccfpark writes "I am going to Washington D.C. next week to talk to my senator (Bill Nelson of FL) and his technology advisor, Reg Lichty, about the CBDTPA. I am personally against this bill as it has the possibility of labeling me as a criminal for my participation in Open Sorce projects such as Handhelds.Org and Tuxscreen, where we endeavor replace proprietary operating systems on consumer electronics with Linux. If this bill is passed it may lead to outlawing these types of activities because it could circumvent software copy protection in these products. What I need are some good resources for formulating a business and political argument against this bill, so that I can speak to these politicians on their level."

msolnik writes: "PocketNow has a review of the new Toshiba Pocket PC e570. With an integrated CompactFlash Type I/II, Secure Digital (SD) slot, a 206Mhz StrongArm, and upto 64MB of ram the Toshiba is going to give the IPAQ a run for its money. Just FYI with some slight modifications the Handhelds.org IPAQ Linux distro should run just fine on the Toshiba."

elemur writes: "For your linux loving friends with everything, why not get a TuxScreen? This phone is based on the Compaq Linux distribution, normally used on the iPaq. When is the last time you needed to upgrade the packages or distribution on your phone?" A phone with a 640x480 touchscreen and a lot more smarts than "redial" would be an upgrade to most people anyhow -- being able to play games even more.

Russ Nelson writes "If you weren't lucky enough to be at OSCon to see Jim Gettys' unobtainium, or my Linux iPAQ playing MP3's off Chris DiBona's gigabyte Microdrive (I downloaded madplay from the Familiar unstable feed with my 802.11 card, removed that, and inserted Chris's microdrive and it all Just Worked®), then at least you can test drive a Linux iPAQ via Compaq's Test Drive program. They have a webcam pointing at the screen." Having seen the device in real life - this thing rocks. Compaq: Please bring it into production, say, next week? *grin*

Chanc_Gorkon writes "Check this new handheld being released by Toshiba: The Toshiba Genio e550 series will be powered by a 206MHz StrongARM processor, 32MB ROM, 32MB RAM, and a 3.5?? reflection TFT running at 240 x 320 x 16-bit color. The e550 will also support industry standard Compact Flash Type II cards as well as the newest expansion technology, a Secure Digital cards for SD Memory and SDIO cards. The e550 will be 77.5 x 125 x 17.5mm in size, weigh 180grams and run 8 hours on its Lithium-ion battery. And now to the major news about Toshiba's new Pocket PC ... one version of the Genio (the e550/MD) will have an integrated 1GB IBM Microdrive! " Presumably handhelds.org will have a port fairly soon since this is fairly similiar to the iPaq. Especially exciting news about the gigabyte microdrive capable version. Suddenly a handheld usable for more then just a PDA and terminal.

Veidit writes: "The Compaq Cambridge Research Laboratory seems to have a cool project named "Mercury". They are integrating an IPAQ running Linux with many diffrent types of wireless alternatives like 802.11b, Bluetooth, GSM, CDMA via PCMCIA. The linux version seems to be the one that Handhelds.org has. " We also had an e-mail from Dan Sparks who writes: " The free Compaq TestDrive Program has added two new features allowing iPAQ handheld development online. In the Test Drive Program, we have four DEC Sharks (DNARD) SA-110 based network computers running Linux allowing development on Linux based StrongArm systems. In addition, Alpha2Arm cross-compiler tool chain has been added to every single one of our Alpha Linux machines, including our Brickwall Beowulf cluster. This means that you can compile programs for your iPAQ handheld on our blazingly fast Alpha computers. The Toolchain includes support for C and C++, and is available on all the Alpha-based Linux distributions we have, including RedHat Linux, SuSE Linux, TurboLinux, Kondara Linux, and Debian GNU/Linux."

Way back in October we solicited ideas for Christmas presents for geeks. This was done with Wired, and the results appear in the current issue (the lime-green colored one: unless you're blind, you can't miss it. You'll only be able to find the first copy, tho). The authors' money will be a nice Christmas present to the EFF. Thanks go to Paul, who did all the really hard work compiling the final list from all your ideas. Now read on to see the list.

1. PlayStation2 - Sony list price $299.99; winning bids on eBay $550-1,375. Supplies are extremely limited. CowboyNeal has been waiting for his for months.
2. Beowulf parallel computing cluster; 3 nodes for $1,305.95. A build-your-own supercomputer: three bargain PCs with Ethernet cards ($415 each), one four-port network hub ($16), and one Building Linux Clusters book from O'Reilly and Associates ($44.95), which includes Red Hat Linux and cluster software on CD. Perfect for trolls who lack a single iota of creativity, or that guy you know who always wants to simulate weather patterns.
3. Car MP3 player - empeg $1,199 (and it even runs Linux, if you're into that sort of thing).
4. IC-R3 handheld wideband radio/TV receiver - Icom America $599. 500-kHz to 2.4-GHz spybox tunes in to everything but cell phones. Voyeurism isn't just for breakfast anymore.
5. iPAQ H3600 Linux-compatible handheld - Compaq $499, but good luck finding one. Apparently there is quite the shortage.
6. Nomad Jukebox - Creative Labs $499. Give this, instead of a CD player, to your loved one in the Napster T-shirt ...
7. Matrix- and Blade Runner-styled trench coats - TrenchCo. $375-482.
8. CD-RW drive, $150-350. No drive fits all machines, so verify compatibility before you buy. Many popular drives have to be back-ordered, but others are always in stock.
9. Voodoo5 5500 AGP or PCI graphics card - 3dfx Interactive $299.99. Better graphics than PlayStation2, on your computer instead of your TV.
10. Klein Bottle - Acme $25-250. Designed by astronomer-author Cliff Stoll.
11. MindStorms - Lego MindStorms $50-200. Classic Lego building blocks, updated with motors and microchips.
12. GlobalMap 100 GPS - Lowrance Electronics $199.95. I get lost in my backyard. I wonder if this thing has a map of my back yard.
13. TiNi Pocket PowerPlier - SOG Specialty Knives and Tools $84.95. Just keep those fingers free of extra holes.
14. Broadband Internet access $39-50 per month (plus installation charges). Check for availability in your area. Consider moving. I know I do almost every day.
15. Interactive Yoda - Tiger $39.99. A Jedi craves not these things. But if he gets one for Christmas, that's different.
16. Non-computer games - Looney Labs $5-35. Card games that modify their own rules, and board games for the brainy.
17. EverQuest - Sony $29.95 (plus $9.89 monthly service fee). Addictive multiplayer game lets you collaborate with others on the Net. Suitable even for a 200-MHz PC with a 28K connection. And the graphics look like ass. But I have many friends who've lost countless productive hours all for the lucrative reward of being able to take a bear by yourself in a virtual world.
18. Tech-book gift certificate - Fatbrain.com $10-25. Let her choose her own robot-building manual.
19. Klein Bottle knit cap or Mobius ear band - Math Hatter $12-22.
20. Penguin Caffeinated Peppermints - ifive brands $12 (four-pack). Essential fuel for all-night hacking: sugar and caffeine wrapped in a handy breath mint. I'll never forget the time Trae ate a whole tin at ALS and traveled forward through time.

If the iPAQ looks nice, the Yopy looks sexy, the Agenda intrigues you, and a V-Tech Helio running Pocket Linux looks interesting to you ... then you may enjoy this sweep of the available Palmtop GUIs with an emphasis on Free ones, written by reader 1010011010.

There are several Linux-based palmtop OSes emerging, and I would like to know what people are expecting from a non-WinCE, non-PalmOS handheld. I have put together minature reviews of three current offerings that I was able to test on my iPaq for comparison.

The TrollTech Qt Palmtop Environment

QPE was demoed recetly at Comdex, and in my opinion is the best-looking hand-held Open Source OS so far, even though it is merely a demo of Embedded QT and has not been released as a product. On the iPaq; instead, it installs a new /usr filesystem on top of handhelds.org linux distro.

I think there are a number of advantages to using Embedded QT rather than an X windows + toolkit solution. One, it does not use X, but writes directly to the frame buffer instead, which makes it lighter than X-based solutions, and provides the capability to do things X cannot -- like anti-aliasing and alpha compositing. [Ed. Note: See also recent Slashdot stories on just such developments.]Another nice (future) feature might be cleartype-rendering for the final output, to improve sharpness for all display elements (not just text). The X Window system's most useful feature is remote display. QPE also includes support for remote display -- it can draw to a VNC framebuffer as well as the Linux framebuffer.

Another advantage to QPE is that it uses the popular QT toolkit, making porting applications from KDE relatively easy, and easing cross-platform development (QT also runs on Windows and other non-unix OSes). Addtionally, QT and QPE are both very space-efficient, all handheld-type applications included. The libraries, framebuffer driver, etc. fit into a 3.7MB .tgz file for the iPaq (mirror). If anyone knows of an Embedded GTK project, please post a link below.

One of the most compelling features of QPE is the variety of input methods it allows. It includes five input methods: pickboard, handwriting, keyboard, opti (modified keyboard), and unicode (apparently understands Cherokee out of the box). Every method includes -- this is the really cool part -- dictionary look-ahead. If you type out part of a word, a ticker presents a list of likely candidates. You simply tap on one to erase the partial you already typed and insert the entire word in its place. This is, I think, its best feature, and one that other environments would do well to copy. it also includes support for "right-clicking" -- tap and hold -- to bring up context menus, set flags in minesweeper, etc.

And though perhaps unpolished, QPE is anything but incomplete: it includes 14 applications -- address book, games, etc. -- plus several applets (like a slider to set backlight brightness and a load monitor) and some silly stuff, like a Tux plush-doll simulator (a shaped window with Tux in it). It also includes an HTML-based help browser. And, of course, it's both Open Source and Free Software.

For all of its niceness, QPE does have some cons as well. A lot of them are related to the fact that QPE is a demo, not a released product. For instance, there's no way to suspend the iPaq. It must be shut off, which requires re-calibrating the display each time. There's a menu option for exiting QPE, but it does not also shut down Linux, so you have to power off the running OS, which can't be good. Crashing applications can bring down the whole GUI. For instance, playing a bad MPEG video in the MPEG player hangs the whole UI. I can restart it using the serial-port console, but that's not really a solution. It currently does not have working audio, which is a shame, because the MPEG player also plays MP3s.

Handhelds.org

Handhelds.org provides the father of all iPaq linux distros (which is also a required base install for QPE). It runs TinyX, written by Jim Gettys. It's really kind of minimalist and unintegrated. However, it's linux, it's free, and Compaq and the iPaq team should be congratulated for providing Linux support on the iPaq. Compaq also provides some other benefits, such as you ability to compile apps using their Skiff Cluster -- making development much easier, as there's no space for a compiler on 16MB of flash. The UI for the Handhelds distro is pretty ghastly -- X + TWM + xterm + TWM menus for few installed apps and administrative tasks, such as changing brightness of backlight.

TWM and xterm are quite tedious to use with a stylus. They're also pretty unattractive. It includes a lot of utilities and programs, but very few GUI apps, which is what you need on a handheld. The three major apps are "scribble" for handwriting recognition, a qwerty keyboard, and a statically-linked GTK mp3 player (note: menus don't work well with stylus). And Xterm makes four, if you want to bother counting it.

The two input methods are strange to use -- you have to get the input focus set just right, and be careful to not obscure the scribble or keyboard app with the target app. In contrast, WinCE and QPE both resize the display area available for apps when the input methods are invoked, and reserve space at the bottom of the screen for the input handler.

Again, the major thing about the handhelds.org Linux distro is that it exists; it's not really meant to be a useful PDA environment. However, it does illustrate the numerous reasons why an unmodified desktop GUI does not belong on a handheld.

PocketLinux

PocketLinux is an interesting beast. It is linux-based, but the GUI and all of its apps run in Kaffe and use XML for interface definition and other data storage. The GUI is themeable, and PocketLinux included several themes. I actually didn't care for any of them. Perhaps they should look at SkinLF, a skin engine for Java/Swing.

They have certainly achieved Buzzword compliance with the use of Java + XML. The downside is, it's slooooow. The UI is simply not very responsive, and the iPaq is the most muscular of the current handhelds. The upside is, it's portable. And since it's Java, I imagine it's theoretically possible to beam apps and data to other PocketLinux devices, even if they use a different processor. That's not an insignificant advantage. Plus, because all apps run in the Java VM, it's likely to be stable (assuming the VM is) thanks to the garbage collection, lack of pointers, etc. that Java provides. Plus, the PocketLinux environment can be used to develop (both compile and test) apps off-unit without having to resort to using a special cross-compiler setup and ftping or syncing builds of apps to just see if they run.

Like QPE, it uses the framebuffer; but it does not include any remote display functionality. I'm not certain that's really an issue with a handheld, anyway -- although it might be nice to open your handheld display on your desktop PC while it's in its cradle so that you can use a mouse and a keyboard to more quickly use the UI to manage the device.

The major downfalls of PocketLinux are its slowness and its clunky UI. It's better than xterm, but not as nice as either QPE or WinCE. Otherwise, it's in the same vein as QPE -- includes all the usual suspects as far as apps go, and an MPEG player to boot.

Thoughts -- I am interested in what you all are looking for in a handheld GUI. Please post! I'm looking for a number of things:

• Flexible, easy to use "sync" feature. This would preclude ActiveSync, as it does not work (at all, either USB or serial) on my iPAQ.
• Standard file formats. None of the Linux handhelds options I've discussed here provide a way to "sync" data to another computer, but when they do, a standard resource file format would be nice.
• Easy to use interface. This means, no need to type out words to start apps (or to use most apps). A "start menu" is the best thing going in the launcher department that I've seen, and the use of things like context menus and QPE's dictionary lookahead make using a stylus easier.
• Free Software.
• I actually spent a couple of months getting to know WinCE before I wiped it, and I never did really care for it. It does include Microsoft Reader, though. All handheld environments should include a good, standard document reader. I reccommend PDF rather than MS Reader or any other proprietary format, because it's an open spec and tools to create and view it are available as free software. It also supports sophisticated layout and compression and delivery of all document elements as one file -- something XML and HTML cannot do.
• Variety of working, non-intrusive input methods. QPE's dictionary is great. WinCE and QPE both resize apps to reserve an area for the input method at the bottom of the screen. This is much better than handhelds.org's TWM focus-game method.
• Standard app toolkit. There's not a lot of space on handhelds, but handhelds need a rich GUI toolkit to be useful and provide a way to write lightweight apps. Palm does this well, even though it is a very limited platform. I can't install GTK and QT and whatever, because there's not a lot of space. I use Gnome on my desktops and laptop, and program for GTK, but am very happy with the slim, trim QT/Embedded used in QPE. PocketLinux sort of half-wins. Demerits for slowness and ugly themes. Handhelds' X+TWM+Xterm wins in the oops-thought-this-was-a-desktop category. WinCE does a moderate job; It looks mostly like windows, but different enough to be mildly strange at the beginning. And, of course, Media Player is totally different. What is it with media players these days? Do they all have to be ugly and slow?
• Speed. Handhelds.org and QPE win here. PocketLinux, of course, does not.
• Support for common features: syncing, serial/ppp/ethernet/other connectivity setup, etc. No one does this yet.
• Apps. Including games. MPEG video player optional. Really. Mp3 player would be cool. Doc reader a requirement.
• Attractive interface. I don't mean gaudy. I mean, easy to look at. Microsoft's cleartype for text does make a difference. QPE's anti-aliasing and alpha-compositing both make a difference in this area. Handhelds.org gets no points here. QPE wins, and PocketLinux, while themeable, is somewhat cluttered and awkward to use.

What are your thoughts? Be liberal with those links!

Note: You may also be interested in reading this piece on PocketLinux and reading more about the iPAQ.

If the iPAQ looks nice, the Yopy looks sexy, the Agenda intrigues you, and a V-Tech Helio running Pocket Linux looks interesting to you ... then you may enjoy this sweep of the available Palmtop GUIs with an emphasis on Free ones, written by reader 1010011010.

There are several Linux-based palmtop OSes emerging, and I would like to know what people are expecting from a non-WinCE, non-PalmOS handheld. I have put together minature reviews of three current offerings that I was able to test on my iPaq for comparison.

The TrollTech Qt Palmtop Environment

QPE was demoed recetly at Comdex, and in my opinion is the best-looking hand-held Open Source OS so far, even though it is merely a demo of Embedded QT and has not been released as a product. On the iPaq; instead, it installs a new /usr filesystem on top of handhelds.org linux distro.

I think there are a number of advantages to using Embedded QT rather than an X windows + toolkit solution. One, it does not use X, but writes directly to the frame buffer instead, which makes it lighter than X-based solutions, and provides the capability to do things X cannot -- like anti-aliasing and alpha compositing. [Ed. Note: See also recent Slashdot stories on just such developments.]Another nice (future) feature might be cleartype-rendering for the final output, to improve sharpness for all display elements (not just text). The X Window system's most useful feature is remote display. QPE also includes support for remote display -- it can draw to a VNC framebuffer as well as the Linux framebuffer.

Another advantage to QPE is that it uses the popular QT toolkit, making porting applications from KDE relatively easy, and easing cross-platform development (QT also runs on Windows and other non-unix OSes). Addtionally, QT and QPE are both very space-efficient, all handheld-type applications included. The libraries, framebuffer driver, etc. fit into a 3.7MB .tgz file for the iPaq (mirror). If anyone knows of an Embedded GTK project, please post a link below.

One of the most compelling features of QPE is the variety of input methods it allows. It includes five input methods: pickboard, handwriting, keyboard, opti (modified keyboard), and unicode (apparently understands Cherokee out of the box). Every method includes -- this is the really cool part -- dictionary look-ahead. If you type out part of a word, a ticker presents a list of likely candidates. You simply tap on one to erase the partial you already typed and insert the entire word in its place. This is, I think, its best feature, and one that other environments would do well to copy. it also includes support for "right-clicking" -- tap and hold -- to bring up context menus, set flags in minesweeper, etc.

And though perhaps unpolished, QPE is anything but incomplete: it includes 14 applications -- address book, games, etc. -- plus several applets (like a slider to set backlight brightness and a load monitor) and some silly stuff, like a Tux plush-doll simulator (a shaped window with Tux in it). It also includes an HTML-based help browser. And, of course, it's both Open Source and Free Software.

For all of its niceness, QPE does have some cons as well. A lot of them are related to the fact that QPE is a demo, not a released product. For instance, there's no way to suspend the iPaq. It must be shut off, which requires re-calibrating the display each time. There's a menu option for exiting QPE, but it does not also shut down Linux, so you have to power off the running OS, which can't be good. Crashing applications can bring down the whole GUI. For instance, playing a bad MPEG video in the MPEG player hangs the whole UI. I can restart it using the serial-port console, but that's not really a solution. It currently does not have working audio, which is a shame, because the MPEG player also plays MP3s.

Handhelds.org

Handhelds.org provides the father of all iPaq linux distros (which is also a required base install for QPE). It runs TinyX, written by Jim Gettys. It's really kind of minimalist and unintegrated. However, it's linux, it's free, and Compaq and the iPaq team should be congratulated for providing Linux support on the iPaq. Compaq also provides some other benefits, such as you ability to compile apps using their Skiff Cluster -- making development much easier, as there's no space for a compiler on 16MB of flash. The UI for the Handhelds distro is pretty ghastly -- X + TWM + xterm + TWM menus for few installed apps and administrative tasks, such as changing brightness of backlight.

TWM and xterm are quite tedious to use with a stylus. They're also pretty unattractive. It includes a lot of utilities and programs, but very few GUI apps, which is what you need on a handheld. The three major apps are "scribble" for handwriting recognition, a qwerty keyboard, and a statically-linked GTK mp3 player (note: menus don't work well with stylus). And Xterm makes four, if you want to bother counting it.

The two input methods are strange to use -- you have to get the input focus set just right, and be careful to not obscure the scribble or keyboard app with the target app. In contrast, WinCE and QPE both resize the display area available for apps when the input methods are invoked, and reserve space at the bottom of the screen for the input handler.

Again, the major thing about the handhelds.org Linux distro is that it exists; it's not really meant to be a useful PDA environment. However, it does illustrate the numerous reasons why an unmodified desktop GUI does not belong on a handheld.

PocketLinux

PocketLinux is an interesting beast. It is linux-based, but the GUI and all of its apps run in Kaffe and use XML for interface definition and other data storage. The GUI is themeable, and PocketLinux included several themes. I actually didn't care for any of them. Perhaps they should look at SkinLF, a skin engine for Java/Swing.

They have certainly achieved Buzzword compliance with the use of Java + XML. The downside is, it's slooooow. The UI is simply not very responsive, and the iPaq is the most muscular of the current handhelds. The upside is, it's portable. And since it's Java, I imagine it's theoretically possible to beam apps and data to other PocketLinux devices, even if they use a different processor. That's not an insignificant advantage. Plus, because all apps run in the Java VM, it's likely to be stable (assuming the VM is) thanks to the garbage collection, lack of pointers, etc. that Java provides. Plus, the PocketLinux environment can be used to develop (both compile and test) apps off-unit without having to resort to using a special cross-compiler setup and ftping or syncing builds of apps to just see if they run.

Like QPE, it uses the framebuffer; but it does not include any remote display functionality. I'm not certain that's really an issue with a handheld, anyway -- although it might be nice to open your handheld display on your desktop PC while it's in its cradle so that you can use a mouse and a keyboard to more quickly use the UI to manage the device.

The major downfalls of PocketLinux are its slowness and its clunky UI. It's better than xterm, but not as nice as either QPE or WinCE. Otherwise, it's in the same vein as QPE -- includes all the usual suspects as far as apps go, and an MPEG player to boot.

Thoughts -- I am interested in what you all are looking for in a handheld GUI. Please post! I'm looking for a number of things:

• Flexible, easy to use "sync" feature. This would preclude ActiveSync, as it does not work (at all, either USB or serial) on my iPAQ.
• Standard file formats. None of the Linux handhelds options I've discussed here provide a way to "sync" data to another computer, but when they do, a standard resource file format would be nice.
• Easy to use interface. This means, no need to type out words to start apps (or to use most apps). A "start menu" is the best thing going in the launcher department that I've seen, and the use of things like context menus and QPE's dictionary lookahead make using a stylus easier.
• Free Software.
• I actually spent a couple of months getting to know WinCE before I wiped it, and I never did really care for it. It does include Microsoft Reader, though. All handheld environments should include a good, standard document reader. I reccommend PDF rather than MS Reader or any other proprietary format, because it's an open spec and tools to create and view it are available as free software. It also supports sophisticated layout and compression and delivery of all document elements as one file -- something XML and HTML cannot do.
• Variety of working, non-intrusive input methods. QPE's dictionary is great. WinCE and QPE both resize apps to reserve an area for the input method at the bottom of the screen. This is much better than handhelds.org's TWM focus-game method.
• Standard app toolkit. There's not a lot of space on handhelds, but handhelds need a rich GUI toolkit to be useful and provide a way to write lightweight apps. Palm does this well, even though it is a very limited platform. I can't install GTK and QT and whatever, because there's not a lot of space. I use Gnome on my desktops and laptop, and program for GTK, but am very happy with the slim, trim QT/Embedded used in QPE. PocketLinux sort of half-wins. Demerits for slowness and ugly themes. Handhelds' X+TWM+Xterm wins in the oops-thought-this-was-a-desktop category. WinCE does a moderate job; It looks mostly like windows, but different enough to be mildly strange at the beginning. And, of course, Media Player is totally different. What is it with media players these days? Do they all have to be ugly and slow?
• Speed. Handhelds.org and QPE win here. PocketLinux, of course, does not.
• Support for common features: syncing, serial/ppp/ethernet/other connectivity setup, etc. No one does this yet.
• Apps. Including games. MPEG video player optional. Really. Mp3 player would be cool. Doc reader a requirement.
• Attractive interface. I don't mean gaudy. I mean, easy to look at. Microsoft's cleartype for text does make a difference. QPE's anti-aliasing and alpha-compositing both make a difference in this area. Handhelds.org gets no points here. QPE wins, and PocketLinux, while themeable, is somewhat cluttered and awkward to use.

What are your thoughts? Be liberal with those links!

Note: You may also be interested in reading this piece on PocketLinux and reading more about the iPAQ.

An Anonymous Coward asks: "Why haven't Compaq, HP and others provide an option in BIOS to boot from from a Compact Flash card in order to speed Linux acceptance and development for handhelds like the IPAQ 3600 series? Are there technical reasons? I some of you have to be drooling over the possibility of Linux on these babies - and yes I know about the great work at handhelds.org - but a worrisome thing is that currently, once you burn flash in the unit, there is no going back. If these companies would provide that option, the development of alternative OS's to winCE would speed up! Want to try a new kernel? Replace the CompactFlash card."

An unnamed correspondent writes:"Transvirtual has released PocketLinux for the iPaq. It features Video4Linux, mp3 playing ability, web synchronization, Kaffe OpenVM, GUI Themes, and displaying in standard or portrait mode. PocketLinux runs on VTech's Helio, iPaq's, and various other platforms." PocketLinux V.P. of Engineering Peter Mehlitz took some time off from the LWCE booth the other day to tell me about Pocketlinux -- read on for some details.

With the buzz that screenshots of X and other windowing systems running on svelte handhelds have generated lately, it's not surprising that the aisle by the PocketLinux booth was swamped with rubberneckers who actually wanted to play with the demos, not just grab t-shirts. If there's a prize for "oohs" and "ahhs" per square foot, Transvirtual may have swept the show with their demo machines, which use an integrated framebuffer device rather than coax on X. The Pocketlinux system consists of an XML framework running on Java -- using Kaffee means no Sun license required -- running on Linux. It's themeable, extensible, and slick.

"Java makes sense for this [because] it makes sense to have a machine that gives you access to distributed apps," said Peter. He anticipates applications equally at home on cell-phones, kiosks and PDAs -- and provides proof in the form of running systems, with handwriting recognition, games, audio players, and (quite nice to see) streaming video."Kaffee and XML let us do just about anything," he says. "With Kaffee, we really learned from the Linux example," he says, adding that Kaffee is now under the GPL.

The LWCE display featured the OS on both a Compaq iPaq and the exotic Itsy, as well as on a V-Tech Helio. While the Compaq machines can also run Windows (for those so inclined), PocketLinux is primed to become the default OS for the Helio, which currently comes with V-Tech's VTOS. Though the grayscale screen isn't as sexy as the Itsy's, the $150 Helio has both more RAM (10MB, including 2MB of flash) and a more powerful processor than my Visor. Helios running PocketLinux were available for sale, too -- not just vaporware -- though the PocketLinux Web site cautions that buyers who want a standard PDA should stick to V-Tech's OS until more PDA features are implemented.

(Interestingly, rather than the obligatory note that only Red Hat-based distros are supported, the installation instructions for the Helio software says instead "our development effort has standardized on a Debian Linux hosted environment and our documentation and operation under Debian is better supported. If anyone wants to write documentation for RedHat installation and submit it, we would be happy to include it.")

Despite their tendency to wolf down batteries, the color machines showed off few things the Helio couldn't, such as a small selection of colorful themes. "They're just XML files -- everything is XML files," said Peter, a point he emphasizes as important for keeping information portable. Streaming video, too -- slightly jerky, but very watchable -- had more than a few onlookers drooling. The important thing, according to Peter, is to rely on hardware to do as much of the tough work of decompression as possible. The video is transmitted with the aid of triggers embedded in Javascript. Viewing compressed movie files is "no problem, he says, "as long as we're not forced to use streaming in user space." Despite Peter's assertion that people will rely on collections of small, nearly disposable appliances rather than an "anything box," some aggregation and assimilation looks inevitable, not to mention fun. All work and no play would probably make for slow sales.

While the software inside the user's machine is free, Transvirtual intends to make money by selling server-based translation software to convert external data types for viewing and listening, as well as by providing businesses (and content providers) with specialized apps.

With the Embedded Linux Consortium, LinuxDevices.com, handhelds.org, and a gaggle of others, Free software for handheld devices has a woven a comfortable net of support for tiny systems. Welcome to the fray.

An unnamed correspondent writes:"Transvirtual has released PocketLinux for the iPaq. It features Video4Linux, mp3 playing ability, web synchronization, Kaffe OpenVM, GUI Themes, and displaying in standard or portrait mode. PocketLinux runs on VTech's Helio, iPaq's, and various other platforms." PocketLinux V.P. of Engineering Peter Mehlitz took some time off from the LWCE booth the other day to tell me about Pocketlinux -- read on for some details.

With the buzz that screenshots of X and other windowing systems running on svelte handhelds have generated lately, it's not surprising that the aisle by the PocketLinux booth was swamped with rubberneckers who actually wanted to play with the demos, not just grab t-shirts. If there's a prize for "oohs" and "ahhs" per square foot, Transvirtual may have swept the show with their demo machines, which use an integrated framebuffer device rather than coax on X. The Pocketlinux system consists of an XML framework running on Java -- using Kaffee means no Sun license required -- running on Linux. It's themeable, extensible, and slick.

"Java makes sense for this [because] it makes sense to have a machine that gives you access to distributed apps," said Peter. He anticipates applications equally at home on cell-phones, kiosks and PDAs -- and provides proof in the form of running systems, with handwriting recognition, games, audio players, and (quite nice to see) streaming video."Kaffee and XML let us do just about anything," he says. "With Kaffee, we really learned from the Linux example," he says, adding that Kaffee is now under the GPL.

The LWCE display featured the OS on both a Compaq iPaq and the exotic Itsy, as well as on a V-Tech Helio. While the Compaq machines can also run Windows (for those so inclined), PocketLinux is primed to become the default OS for the Helio, which currently comes with V-Tech's VTOS. Though the grayscale screen isn't as sexy as the Itsy's, the $150 Helio has both more RAM (10MB, including 2MB of flash) and a more powerful processor than my Visor. Helios running PocketLinux were available for sale, too -- not just vaporware -- though the PocketLinux Web site cautions that buyers who want a standard PDA should stick to V-Tech's OS until more PDA features are implemented.

(Interestingly, rather than the obligatory note that only Red Hat-based distros are supported, the installation instructions for the Helio software says instead "our development effort has standardized on a Debian Linux hosted environment and our documentation and operation under Debian is better supported. If anyone wants to write documentation for RedHat installation and submit it, we would be happy to include it.")

Despite their tendency to wolf down batteries, the color machines showed off few things the Helio couldn't, such as a small selection of colorful themes. "They're just XML files -- everything is XML files," said Peter, a point he emphasizes as important for keeping information portable. Streaming video, too -- slightly jerky, but very watchable -- had more than a few onlookers drooling. The important thing, according to Peter, is to rely on hardware to do as much of the tough work of decompression as possible. The video is transmitted with the aid of triggers embedded in Javascript. Viewing compressed movie files is "no problem, he says, "as long as we're not forced to use streaming in user space." Despite Peter's assertion that people will rely on collections of small, nearly disposable appliances rather than an "anything box," some aggregation and assimilation looks inevitable, not to mention fun. All work and no play would probably make for slow sales.

While the software inside the user's machine is free, Transvirtual intends to make money by selling server-based translation software to convert external data types for viewing and listening, as well as by providing businesses (and content providers) with specialized apps.

With the Embedded Linux Consortium, LinuxDevices.com, handhelds.org, and a gaggle of others, Free software for handheld devices has a woven a comfortable net of support for tiny systems. Welcome to the fray.

wishus writes: "The Compaq iPAQ is Compaq's PocketPC offering, with a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM. Microsoft beware, though, because there are now 2 different ways to put Linux on it - Compaq's own is at handhelds.org and the second, announced yesterday, is from Century Software. They are actually two very different means to the same end - Linux and X running on the iPAQ, complete with handwriting recognition." If only it had 802.11 wireless support, I'd be there.

alee writes "Here's what everyone's been waiting to see: screenshots of the Compaq iPAQ (PocketPC) running Linux. No, you're not going to see it running a plain-jane shell -- you're going to actually see it running X! This project is a lot more mature than I expected. Here is Photos of iPAQ being opened, and running X and Screen captures of the iPAQ running X." Ummmm.... wow.

alee writes "Here's what everyone's been waiting to see: screenshots of the Compaq iPAQ (PocketPC) running Linux. No, you're not going to see it running a plain-jane shell -- you're going to actually see it running X! This project is a lot more mature than I expected. Here is Photos of iPAQ being opened, and running X and Screen captures of the iPAQ running X." Ummmm.... wow.

MichaelH writes: "AllLinuxDevices has intervie wed seminal X developer Jim Gettys of handhelds.org. He discusses the fate of the Itsy (and Itsy 2), the GNOME/KDE environments on a palmtop, and some of the challenges of porting X to a compact environment. Handhelds.org is currently driving development for the Compaq iPAQ 3600 series as part of the 'Open Handhelds' initiative."

wruji writes: "Linux on Compaq's upcoming iPAQ PocketPC. handhelds.org has more info including install instructions" Cute little box.

wruji writes: "Linux on Compaq's upcoming iPAQ PocketPC. handhelds.org has more info including install instructions" Cute little box.