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COMDEX and Linux Handhelds
code_slayer sent us a cool review of linux handhelds at COMDEX. You can see
Qt Embedded (which has been released under the GPL)
as well as MicroWindows, and a bunch of prototype boards. I'm still waiting for the 802.11 wireless linux handheld capable of displaying remote X applications, but it looks like we're getting closer.
Isn't it the software and hardware features that matter rather than the OS? Palm OS has the most applications. Except for l33t-ness, why would anyone switch from a Palm handheld to a Linux one?
I realize these questions are annoying, but there had better be a good answer if you ever expect Linux to win in the market.
The people working on Linux for handhelds (at least the people at handhelds.org anyway) are NOT interested in reproducing your Linux desktop that is running on your AMD 1.4Ghz PC with the 64MB AGP video card. They are interested in making the Linux kernel work on handheld computers so that lots of other really smart people can come up with a really nice UI schema that will run on top of it. Read the list archives a bit to realize that these people *really get it.*
Lots of people are going to be talking about "the huge Linux distro" installed on their handheld computer, thinking about their home PC. Again, that's not the way it works. The Linux distro build by the handhelds.org people has the kernel, X11, some nice utilities, and fits into about 8MB. (Yes, that's the TCP/IP stack, fbdev X11, glibc, and most of the other usual suspects.) The point is to make a working operating *environment*, not a fancy e-based desktop. They know that that's not appropriate for the handheld form factor.
Like the article says, the point is *not* Linux-centric technofetishism. The point is to literally "open up" the capabilities of the devices to make them more accessible to the people who use them. I own a Palm IIIxe and I love it. I also am having a very hard time wrapping my head around the Palm API and trying to find decent tools to program it under Linux. If I have Linux running on my iPAQ, using Qt either under X11 or with Qt/Embedded, then I don't need to learn a new paradigm and can start programming my iPAQ right away. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll understand how to program for this sort of UI, but that at least will be my fault if I screw it up. The fact that now I *can* easily screw it up on my own is the important part.
I think what everyone's assuming is that the people who are involved in these projects are under the same mistaken assumption that Microsoft has been for so many years with WinCE that the whole point is to reproduce the desktop on a really tiny computer. BUT THEY'RE NOT! Everyone involved really understands that that's a BAD IDEA.
The reason, IMHO, that this stereotype keeps propagating is that right now, just getting Linux to boot on any of the handheld devices commonly available in the market is such an accomplishment that nobody's really been able to put a whole lot of effort into coming up with a good UI for the things now that we can actually use them. Qt/Embedded is a GREAT BIG step in that direction, and hopefully will make people start realizing that this is actually REALLY COOL STUFF and not just done for the sake of doing it.
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My mom's going to kick you in the face!
Now I can fit a 1024 node Beowulf cluster in the linen closet.