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First Looks at Linux DA PDA
e1en0r writes "My Linux DA PDA finally arrived yesterday. It's a great PDA for under $100. I put up a review of it here. It's very similar to the Palm OS, with a few more interesting features. The most notable being the file manager. You can see where everything is and view all the files in text and hexadecimal mode. It also appears that you can overclock the 16 MHz DragonBall CPU up to 25 MHz. There are some screenshots on their site, which include the CPU Speed application. Unfortunately that application is lacking in documentation." The review is a little thin, but its still cool seeing these in the wild.
The irony here is while it promotes linux as a pda system, the datasync feature is available for windows only right now.
It looks like a Palm , only chunkier.
It runs very little software and won't sync.
A linux PDA that doesn't even attempt to sync with anything other than Windows and then fails anyway ?
Seems like a pointless device. Why try to emulate a palm anyway ? If you're going to take them on try to be BETTER.
Seems like a joke device. I wonder if the reviewer would be favourable at all if it wasn't a linux based device ?
I'm a big fan of Linux, but why would I want this instead of kicking a few bucks extra and actually getting a Palm device?
I'm serious here; my Visor does what I want it to, does this solve some problem that existing PDAs don't? It seems like sort of a tough sell, especially when the device has only 15 apps.
What bugs me about this is not that some company is using the Linux kernel to build a proprietary PDA, but the fact that they so prominently use the Linux name. This is not a "Linux" PDA in any useful sense: it doesn't run Linux utilities, it thumbs its nose at the open source process, and even its kernel software development appears to take part outside the Linux community.
I also wonder whether the company even still has the right to use the Linux kernel. They failed to make source code available for months (I requested it), even though they were distributing binaries. That was a violation of the GPL, and once you violate it, you lose the right to use the code. Also, the source code that they did finally distribute is a mess, and I have my doubts that it even corresponds to the kernel that they ship, which would constitute another GPL violation.
Promotional Photo? A) Why would any self-respecting company use this photo? and B) I feel sorry for whoever this is.
Pointless to you (as a Linux user), yes. Pointless to them (as a company), no way. One of the great things about Linux (and Open Source in general) is that everyone now has this awesome repository of code that they can pull from. No longer do people need to start at ground zero in their development cycle, rather they can plunk in code from the Open Source community and get a real jump start.
Now, to get Linux "at the right end" companies just need to be convinced that there is a large enough paying population to justify putting out a product. My bet would be that this is less likely to happen. Even if a company put out a great product that ran on Linux it would likely be cloned, forked, warez or simply not purchased. Typical Linux users don't want to pay for code; if its not Free (as in beer) they don't want it. Now there are some that will plunk down some $$ for a project they like or an application that they need, but overall there is no large market for commercial Linux desktop applications.
I wonder if the reviewer would be favourable at all if it wasn't a linux based device
Nope. The product wouldn't even get to market. Inferrior products don't go anywhere unless they've got some reason to survive. In this case the company hopes that Linux users will buy it (over Palm, etc.) simply because it runs Linux, not because it has better features.
This is just the current state too. We know that Palm is doing all this in an economically viable way, whereas Linux DA may not be and probably is not. In other words, with Palm the continued support and development is pretty much a sure thing...Linux DA on the other hand.....will likely be forced to fold very shortly.
I can't say i'm terribly impressed with this thing. Only syncs with Windows, no third-party apps (that'll be fixed in time), and even the Windows sync program is broken.
Not to mention, Palm could probably sue them for ripping off their UI... Other than that the fonts are ugly as fuck and not positioned onscreen properly, it looks exactly like PalmOS.
The one thing i'm curious about though : They claim "Hardware compatibility with Palm IIIxe". Does that mean I could buy one of these devices, get a ROM image of PalmOS 3.5 somewhere and throw it onto this $100 handheld? (Slightly illegal, I know, but I'm just wondering if it's possible)
Wow, there's a new PDA out! Let's hack it and put Linux on it!
:)
... oh, wait, it already runs Linux. Move on geeks, nothing to hack here
Petru
I've had my eye on the iPaq H3135. 200MHz StrongARM, 16MB RAM + 16MB ROM. Those specs put the VR3 to shame, and handhelds.org should have all the info on flashing the OS to Linux. Amazon.com is offering them for $150 after rebate.
Note: the status of Linux on the mono iPaq seems to be a little behind the color version, so be sure to check the relevant info on the development site before jumping on the idea.
Well, I didn't make that claim. In fact, I gave the VR3 as an example of what I would consider a true Linux PDA, as opposed to to the "Linux DA".
In fact, I like my VR3 a lot. The only thing it really needs is an MMC expansion slot.
Forgot to turn on the brain again?
If I collect all 7, do I get super ultra powers and fly around and fight 5 episode long fight scenes!!!!!! That would be so cool....