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Agenda Linux PDA Finally Out
MacauMan writes "Finally, after six months delay, Agenda Computing has just
released the Agenda
VR3, which, if I'm not mistaken, is now the world's first
PDA that ships with a Linux OS. It sports a 66MHz MIPS processor and comes with 8MB
RAM and 16MB flash memory. It looks like a nice little box, and at
$249 the price is right. I just hope they sorted out all those little
problems they had with the developer model..." The folks at Agenda shipped me a review model and I'll try to have a report soon. So far I have mixed feelings: the UI isn't as smooth as a Palm or Wince system, but you can get a terminal, so its the only system where I can use ps and kill.
I hit Kuro5hin a lot (hell, I designed the moderation system), though I agree with you on story content -- K5 got grabbed by a bunch of HS/College PoliSci types. I think it's getting a bit better than it had been for a while, but the article focus is way off. Submission system needs a lot of work.
There's a community that gelled over at the old InfoWorld Electric forums (mostly under Nick Petreley's columns) which now hangs at IWETHEY. The group's getting a little long in the tooth, but still is good for a read on stuff. Looking for a new home though -- EZBoard's forum SW basically stinks.
I do a lot of email -- mostly Debian lists, a few discussions of other topics. Many forums seem to be quieting down though as people ride out the downturn. Definitely interesting times.
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?
Rob's torn between a bad interface and his neverending bias for Linux? I don't see much here to debate. If it's not as slick as the palm or WinCE or whatever, well, end of story. It's not as easy to use.
If I put a linux sticker on a block of wood, would you buy it?
What did you eat today? http://www.atetoday.com/
Its a nice little unit, but what is their target market? Aside from geeks, who is going to buy one of these instead of the more standardized palm or wince device? Do they include a tool to move all your palm data to their format, or are they assuming that the people buying the Agenda won't be upgrading from an existing device?
Oh yeah, and are we taking bets on how long till somebody is running apache on it?
and vice-versa!
The screenshots I took of Atari800 running on the Agenda were done by running the program on the Agenda, and displaying it on the Agenda.
Then, I ran "xwd" on the workstation, with the Agenda set as the display. A crosshair cursor popped up on my Agenda's LCD and I tapped the screen. "Beep!" "Beep!" Suddenly a ".xwd" screenshot image file was stored on my workstation!
In other words:
Developing for this PDA is a f**king breeze!
So when they say "Join the Linux revolution" and "free software movement", does this mean that all of the software on the machine is GPL or something similar, so that unlike Palm OS, when I want to change a built-in app I can (provided I have skillz)? I'm not finding a lot on their site that indicates one way or the other.
IIRC, Palm has the source to all of the on-board applications (and a lot of the games) included as part of the development kit, so you can indeed change the application to do whatever you want. Some of them have, as I believe there are several very nice calendar replacements available based on the 'stock' code. You can even get the source code to the OS as a liscenced developer - is it free? No, but the code is available.
Palm has actively supported the free tools; They could be nicer about the USB specs, but I don't know enough to comment on that.
You might want to check out Palm Open Source for more goodies. There a nice little market doing custom development for palms, now, too.
NOBODY has come out and offered what I really want - linux on a PDA with a nice keyboard, a la the Jornada! GCC to go, with a real keyboard. I could toss the vaio then.
..don't panic
I'm really don't think there's any value inherent in a Linux PDA.
:) ).
Before I get flamed mercilessly, let me explain...
I started with the original Newton. then moved to Palm when the Pro came out. Then came the Palm V. After that, I got a Psion V w/ Epoc 32. Then I managed to get my hands on a prototype Newton tablet that Apple never released. Then, when I realized that wouldn't do what I needed, I built my own Linux-based PDA using the ucLinux SIMM hardware project and an LCD panel. Then I moved onto the iPaq
After going through all of these handheld devices, I still haven't found one that can be hacked to the functionality I desire, which is essentially a wide-area wireless browsing device. For all its virtues, Linux (at present) doesn't provide much beyond its coolness factor in the handheld arena. Functionally the Palm or the iPaq with their native operating systems are FAR more useful to the end user population.
When a decent UI (read: simple yet complete) UI and a stable business application suite are made available under Linux on a PDA, then they'll do better than they have. Palm compatibility for data transfer will be essential, as will battery life.
Until that time Linux on a PDA (IMO) will remain a mere curiosity for geeks to stare at (I personally am now over my staring phase...
-drin
I dunno - if you carried around a beowulf cluster in your pocket, you'd probably get more radiation sent into your gonads than a damn cel phone sends into your melon.
That would not be a Good Thing
- passion
Why, for the sake of having Linux on a handheld, would I or anyone else want to accept a product that is admittedly inferior?
--SC
You read fiction? I write it! Lemme know what you th
From various Agenda info pages:
m l#system
t ml
"CD-ROM Software QuickSync for Linux and Windows PC" - http://www.agendacomputing.com/products/system.ht
"With our QuickSync Cradle and software, you can easily exchange information between your Agenda and your Windows or Linux PC." - http://www.agendacomputing.com/products/details.h
Too lazy to link...
So when they say "Join the Linux revolution" and "free software movement", does this mean that all of the software on the machine is GPL or something similar, so that unlike Palm OS, when I want to change a built-in app I can (provided I have skillz)? I'm not finding a lot on their site that indicates one way or the other.
I do not have a signature
At $249 the price is right???? I honestly have to say that at about $99 the price would be right. This is not meant as a slam on the product, I've never seen it, but I think these things need to get around $100 to really fly. Until then it's nothing but a geek toy, a cool toy, yes, but a geek toy nonetheless.
I'm starting to wonder if aliens/the feds aren't busy kidnapping /.'ers and replacing them with drones.
/.'ers Linux users, AT ALL!)
Here we have a company that was willing to try and bring out a reasonably priced and decently performing handheld unit that runs Linux and runs it well. They have been nothing but open, friendly and helpful to those who are trying to develop for it.
Is it perfect? No. What version 1.0 of nearly anything is these days? Especially with a product that IS geared toward the geeks among us?(There are at least a couple left I'm sure...)
Since many of you who have posted to this topic obviously won't ever look for yourselves, believe me when I say that you CAN in fact use this device in as brain-dead a fashion as a Palm. Set an appointment, jot down a contact, etc WITHOUT having to type in command lines. But you can do so much more when the guts of the machine are readily available and familiar to you in the form of Linux. (Though I suspect that no longer are the majority of
So, finally it's ready for release and what do you guys do? Shit all over it. From people who are obviously feeling threatened (oh no! MY cool shiny thing isn't so cool anymore! Wait a minute, I'll just throw mud at everyone else and proclaim how great my toy REALLY is and then it will still be shiniest! Yeah, that's a plan!) by it to just plain ignoramuses who think it requires command lines to do anything.
What the hell is wrong with you people? Could one of the ex-/.'ers of old who might still be lurking please tell this straggler where you all have migrated to?
LEXX
"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
"All someone has to do is port X to it and that will change"
.. er .. fingers...
Read the web page linked to before you open your
I Quote from the faq:
"What window manager does the VR3 use? Can I open multiple windows at the same time?
The VR3 uses a modified version of flwm. Windows are maximized by default, but the `status bar' application includes (among other things) a drop-down window listing to facilitate managing multiple windows."
It would be interesting to allow multiuser access to this kind of device. I'm not sure at what level the ir communication is at, but it is certainly possible, and would be neat.
Too many people begrudge neat for it's own sake. I think that it's by playing with things that are neat, which we are passionate about, that we make the truley innovate advances.
I think that the ability to code for these things yourself is fantastic. Are there many tech companies who write client-oriented software for these things? Who do 'solutions?'
[haven't you tried FunWithPerl?]