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IBM Picks Qtopia Over PalmOS And PocketPC
Bill Kendrick writes "ZDNet,
Geek.com and others are reporting IBM's decision to choose Trolltech's Qtopia (the embedded version of their Qt library, used by the Sharp Zaurus PDA) in their forthcoming devices.
See the announcement at Trolltech's website, and an
earlier press release at IBM.com." Here's an earlier post about the new IBM reference platform.
Qtopia is qt on embedded Linux. Same environment as Sharp's Zaraus. Good Stuff.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I am glad to see this since it should broaden the Qtopia user base significantly. You may or may not know that Qtopia is also used by the Sharp Zaurus Linux PDA (both the Sharp software and OpenZaurus distros use it). There is also the OPIE project, which is basically a suite of PDA apps built on top of Qtopia. This bodes well for getting more Liunx PDA users on board, and provides some existing apps for those using Qtopia for the first time.
"Don't bite the flamebait."
"Why not?"
"It might make you look dumb."
"It's OK. This one just needs a little clarity".
QTopia is a development environment for portable and embeded devices. It runs on embeded versions of Linux.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
Apple, Sharp, and Trolltech do not offer any syncing solution for Mac OS X. It's... like... beep beep beep.. a bummer.
Wow, great to see IBM getting into the PDA market. For those who don't remember, they pretty much set the gold standard in the laptop industry, and we still live with the benefits today. But while this sounds like a good toy for geeks, I have to wonder about some of the choices made in the design of this device.
PDAs typically use processors designed specifically for embedded environments. They're built from the ground up for low power consumption in preference to blazing speed. The PowerPC is exactly the opposite, as anyone who has sat down at a recent G4 can tell you -- these things scream.
Furthermore, Linux is specifically architectured for the server market, which is why it's seen so much success in the enterprise. Trying to tweak it to run on a PDA is an excercise in feudalism. The choice could also be bad news for Linux, as people will start to think of the OS as suitable for only small devices.
It's a good idea, but I'd like to see them take a more sensible approach.
But I didn't know and that means there is probably a bunch of others out there too..:
Qt is a multiplatform, C++ application development framework. One source runs natively on Windows, Unix/Linux, Mac 0S X, and embedded systems.
Go here for a brief overview from Trolltech.
Pretty cool with the customization aspect.. Is there any programmers out there who have some real experience? This is pretty interesting to me, and I wouldn't mind hearing some feedback and maybe links or something. =)
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
QT/Embeded is the embedded version of the QT library. Qtopia (formerly QPE) is a PDA operating environment based on QT/Embedded.
After Sharp decided to use Qtopia on the Zarus, TrollTech seemed to lose interest in the Qtopia version for Familiar on the iPaq, so an open source fork was started called Opie http://opie.handhelds.org/
One of their goals is binary compatabilty with Qtopia though.
If you go here, you'll see that they have three licenses: a Commercial Development licence, a Commercial OEM license and a GPL Development license. So it depends on what you're planning on doing with what you build. You can't build a commercial product with the GPL license.
Most of that stuff can be removed at compile time.
Yeah, well, is IBM really going to be able to compete with Symbian and Microsoft? Sure, it's nice to see a dinosaur company like IBM making bold moves, but they're just one step behind the other guys. I would say IBM is an outsider in the new battle for the "pervasive OS". Today, the big contenders are Nokia/Sony Ericsson + Symbian and (as usual) Microsoft. Sure the Zaurus is nice, but check out the 3GSM news and all you will see is Symbian and M$.
Here's how it works. If you use the GPL Qt, you need to release your product as GPL. You can still charge for GPL products, you just have to make source available for the cost of media and shipping. But if you don't want to release your product as GPL, you get a commercial license from Qt. Then you aren't under the restritcions of the GPL, because you aren't using the Qt libs under the GPL. That's how every product with a "free for non-commercial use" download licenses the product, although not always with the GPL.
It was a combination of a kernel driver for the video card and a set graphics libraries, which working together would provide a common hardware abstraction layer for all applications which might need to paint to a display. This way all applications could use the same functions to paint the display no matter what the underlying hardware. They then created a GGI X Server as a proof of concept that X could work over GGI. The real intention was to replace SVGAlib and get X drivers out of userspace - for both performance and security reasons. Pretty much what we have today with frame buffer and DRI support in the kernel, but far advanced for its time. There was some kind of falling out between Linus and the project so it never got added to the baseline kernel, the politics of which I can't remember. This is going back to 1996 or so. Too bad, it was a good idea which didn't survive.
You might be thinking of the Berlin Project, which I see has moved over to something called Fresco. Haven't followed up on that in some time so I can't speak to its current development activity.
Cheers,
--Maynard
Not to mention a change of administration in the executive branch leading to a kinder, gentler, nation for our formerly oppressed corporate underclass.
Go back and reread your the history of the case; the soft-pedaling started during the Clinton administration. This isn't a Clinton/Bush or Dem/Rep issue, more a failure of the system as a whole. I'd have to go back and look again myself, but ISTR that the DOJ was toughest near the beginning, which was during the Bush Sr. administration.
And for those who are convinced that only the Reps favor corporate America, keep in mind that the Dems are heavily behind the push to maintain Big Media's stranglehold.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Also, Qtopia is open source... I think I want a Qtopia device now :-D (Although none really have the capabilities of my Clie NX70 :)
Go out and buy a Sharp Zaurus. It has a 206Mhz StrongArm, keyboard, SD slot, and a CF slot that accepts memory, cameras, ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth cards. What does the NX70 have over that, other than a built-in camera?
The Zaurus SL-5500 is a good PDA and an even better "handheld computer." The SL-5600M will be even more capable when it is released.
So you could use Qt GPL version and make an app and sell it, but you'd also have to release the source code with it under the GPL license.
IBM is a lot older than you think. The company was started sometime in the late 1800s, and they built things like punch cards and typewriters. (Good typewriters too, as my finger recall, but appearently difficult to repair)
While it's true that under the Bush I administration the DOJ followed through with a consent decree over anti-competitive practices at Microsoft, that action was over contracts between MS and all large PC vendors which bundled Windows with all PCs manufactured regardles of what OS they shipped with. Microsoft signed the consent decree and immediately found a loophole and continued their old practices into the Clinton administratoin. The Clinton DOJ action against MS was primarily over bundling Internet Explorer within Windows 98 in order to kill Netscape. In the previous instance we see MS leveraging their monopoly to kill off distribution of other OSs with any and all PCs. In the latter case we see them leveraging their monopoly to kill a secondary application and development environmet which threatened to commoditize Windows through open standards and platform compatability.
Without a doubt, once Bush took office and Ashcroft took the DOJ we had a new policy of dropping the case at all costs. The DOJ settled with defendant that had previously convicted. When have you ever seen that by a prosecutor? Extremely strange, and obviously political. This is not a Democrat vs. Republican thing, it's a Bush II policy issue, the effects of which are in the public record.
Cheers,
--Maynard