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Zaurus Development with Qtopia

Posted by timothy on from the squash-it-in dept.

Radical Rad writes "There is a great article by Bruce Forsberg at Linux Gazette for anyone wanting to develop for the Zaurus platform. Using a mileage calculator as an example, he covers step by step setting up the Qtopia SDK, compiling, testing with the Zaurus emulator, and finally cross-compiling and creating the distribution package. He covers all the bases including compile-time environment variables and the control file for the ipkg."

27 comments

  1. Great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's a great news for the Free Software movement. I can't believe no one has commented this story. But when there is MSFT bashing story, we have 1000 of flaimbate comments... *sigh*

    1. Re:Great news by RevAaron · · Score: 1

      1. This isn't on the front page.

      2. It's great news for the FS movement? What is? That you can compile apps for the Zaurus? YAY! ;P

      Don't get me started on the Z. I own one. And I'm pissed.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
    2. Re:Great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why are you pissed? because someone posted this article? explain...

    3. Re:Great news by sydb · · Score: 1

      Yeah, why are you pissed?

      I own a Zaurus, and I'm very happy!

      --
      Yours Sincerely, Michael.
    4. Re:Great news by RevAaron · · Score: 1

      Well, first, I apologize. I was in a very bad mood this morning. I was doing a little wifi-age this morning on my Z, and randomly I get a blank screen. Take out the card, and it goes back to normal. Somewhat normal. So I reboot. And all of my shit is gone. I have a backup, but from a week ago. This Zaurus- and from my talkingson in #zaurus and on the web, it sounds like the Zaurus is riddled with problems. It sucks. So much potential, but it just bums me out that it sucks so hard. I guess I'm still adjusting to the fact that I have to reset my Linux-based Zaurus at least twice as much as I've had to reset any WinCE- or NewtonOS-based PDA I've ever owned. :(

      If it weren't for the fact that the 5x00 has a 100 MHz bus (!) and therefore runs my own OS/OE Dynapad faster, I would've eBayed this sucker and go back to using my Newton or maybe even the Dell Axim that I won. Maybe it was a sign...

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
    5. Re:Great news by sydb · · Score: 1

      I agree it's not as stable as other platforms, currently. But it is much more flexible, don't you think?

      I imagine (and hope) a few iterations of OpenZaurus will put things right.

      --
      Yours Sincerely, Michael.
    6. Re:Great news by RevAaron · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, I don't really think it's more flexible. There is potential for it to be more flexible, but considering the mindset of most Linux developers, I don't think it will be in the end. While I still have hopes, I don't see much innovation (excuse the poor word) coming out of OZ or Sharp ROMland. No doubt it will improve, perhaps even rival other platforms in some areas someday.

      Unless by flexible you mean having the ability to compile pretty easily a wide variety of apps which don't really belong on the Z, in which case yes. But I've actually (and regrettably) found WinCE-based PDAs to be more flexible than the Zaurus in terms of software available and what you can do with it. What kinds of flexibility where you thinking of?

      The stuff usually cited by Z fans as being a part of this flexibility- SSH/telnet, VNC, X11, perl or python programming, having a shell, etc all can be done on WinCE, and often times its easier to setup on WinCE than it is on PDA Linux for these Unix packages. You've also got a better chance finding a front-end or an adapted version of this package for the smaller-screen, smaller-resource configuration of a PDA with a WinCE port than the Zaurus version. I kind of assumed that it would work out the otherway when I bought my Z and find I have more *practical* desktop Unix software ports on my Jornada 720 than on my Zaurus.

      That said, no other mobile platform beats Opera and Konq on the Z for speed and quality of the browser. Pocket IE on PocketPC is pretty bad, but IE on Handheld PC 2000 (also WinCE 3.0-based) is a lot better...

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  2. No mention of OpenZaurus by ccady · · Score: 3, Interesting

    <freesoftwareplug>

    Lots of people use OpenZaurus which is more stable, configurable, and (need I say?) way cooler than the proprietary ROM that comes with the machine.

    </freesoftwareplug>

    --
    J'aime mieux les méchants que les imbéciles, parce qu'ils se reposent. -- Alexandre Dumas
    1. Re:No mention of OpenZaurus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      it also currently breaks pretty much every non-OZ app (commercial or otherwise). no thanks.

      the stock ROM stinks but at least I know any app I buy or d/l (like from TheKompany) will stand a chance of working.

      Waiting for OZ 4.0....

    2. Re:No mention of OpenZaurus by RevAaron · · Score: 1

      Waiting for OZ 4.0? I'm waiting for the new Sharp ROM! With Opera 6 and Qtopia 1.6 it'll be somewhat of an upgrade. Let's hope they did a little work on the PIM apps...

      The stock ROM stinks in relation to decent PDA platforms, like Newton OS, PalmOS or even PocketPC. But compared to OZ, it's great as a PIM/PDA platform. Which is a bummer.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  3. site is down? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what the hell, are they running it from a Z?

    1. Re:site is down? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUCK YOU.

      I hate these lame ass jokes. Even in these non-front page stories some asshole has to say it.

      what the hell, are you running your fucking brain from a Z?

      (sorry)

  4. Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by Paul+Jakma · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Or what about the even cooler (but not as mature) GTK+ 2 based GPE? X based so when at home you can have your apps display to your desktop and make use of a real keyboard. Though the graffiti-like Xstroke app GPE uses is excellent and so you might not miss your desktop keyboard :).

    --
    I use Friend/Foe + mod-point modifiers as a karma/reputation system.
    1. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by sydb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I see you're one of the developers of GPE.

      The Familiar HOWTO doesn't mention the Zaurus. Can I run Familiar / GPE on the Zaurus? Easily? Familiar seems very pro-iPaq.

      Does Familiar run the same kernel as OpenZaurus? There are issues with the SD Card driver on the Zaurus; Sharp won't release the specs so Sharp's binary module must be used.

      TIA

      --
      Yours Sincerely, Michael.
    2. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by RevAaron · · Score: 2

      1. You can use X11 apps from within Qtopia on the Zaurus or any Linux PDA using an Xserver that displays within a Qtopia window. Just as easy.

      2. There's no way I'll not miss my real keyboard until I have real handwriting recognition on my Linux PDA. Not stroke or character recognition, which is what Xstroke, Graffitti, Jot and the system in Qtopia all are. No one seems to be working on a such a project, yet another case of Linux people not knowing how good they could have it.

      But then again, character recognition that doesn't immensely blow would be a step in the right direction- the CR built into Qtopia on the Zaurus is so ass-slow. For numbers it is quick enough, by virtue of having fewer characters to recognize. However, in either caps or small letter boxes, it takes like 500 ms to recognize a frigging letter! HA! Not acceptable. How is Xstroke?

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
    3. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a setting in the configuration section of the Qtopia HWR that lets you set the character timeout as low as 250ms, it is set to 500 by default so it doesn't cut you off when you're learning.

    4. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by RevAaron · · Score: 1

      Yup, and I have it set to that. It is still slow.

      As I said, it's plenty fast when doing numbers, but ABC and abc are slow. It's even slower when you add trained strokes to it, then it's entirely unusable.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
    5. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by Paul+Jakma · · Score: 1

      Oh... just a very minor one :(

      Yes, familiar can run on Zaurus. You'll have to hunt around for instructions though, or ask on the irc.freenode.net#gpe irc channel - i know that at least two of the more active developers have Zauruses (Zaurii?) (the C700).

      Familiar runs its own kernel. I guess you'd have to keep your sharp kernel and run that. SD will (it seems) never be supported openly under linux, as the consortium controlling the specs will not release them.

      Familiar pro-ipaq? Well, handhelds.org was setup by Compaq :)

      --
      I use Friend/Foe + mod-point modifiers as a karma/reputation system.
    6. Re:Gtk PDA Environment (GPE) by Paul+Jakma · · Score: 1

      X on Qtopia: ah, neat. ie an Xnest server ported to Qtopia? (didnt know it existed - sorry).

      2. Well, what do you mean by real handwriting recognition?

      The trouble is you want the computer to magically recognise whatever you write. but, that just isnt going to happen for now. There needs to be some formal specification for character recognition, and most systems have opted for 'stroke' recognition. Note that one of the biggest reasons for this is that hardware limitations/interfaces make this the most practical recognition system. Ie its much easier to limit each char to a single stroke (one set of pen-down/pen-up events), than try work out how to recognise character bounds if multiple 'strokes' are allowed -> "ok, did the user just dot his 'i' or did that second tap mean a full stop? hmm.." - far too error-prone, and even single-stroke recognition isnt that free of errors either. However, you can at least learn how to write the strokes in the best way so that the software can reliable recognise them.

      Xstroke, imo, is pretty good. You can draw anywhere on the screen, and once you get the hang of it you can work reasonably well, even with the CLI. Speed: its pretty good, it does slow down on occassion - this usually manifests itself in the 'stroke' graphic on screen drawing slowly, not in character recognition. i find that renicing it to -3 helps a /lot/ (suggesting the problem is more with linux being deficient in scheduling time for Xstroke and Xipaq when its needed, than in Xstroke itself. i renice Xipaq to -10 too.).

      --
      I use Friend/Foe + mod-point modifiers as a karma/reputation system.
  5. mirror? by (startx) · · Score: 0, Redundant

    did anyone happen to get a mirror of the this article before the server it's hosted on went poof? What'd they do, host it on the Zaurus?

    1. Re:mirror? by sydb · · Score: 1

      Here

      --
      Yours Sincerely, Michael.
    2. Re:mirror? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      modded -1 redundant. Good thing moderators are allowed to moderate 2 days after a story goes live, when the servers are allowed to recover. Good thing the current moderators don't know how to look at post numbers to figure how which ones are actually redundant, and which one was posted minutes after the story went live. yup. good thing.

  6. Mirror by sydb · · Score: 1

    here.

    --
    Yours Sincerely, Michael.
  7. What the Zaurus needs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've got one and what it needs to be a decent pda is:

    A good wordprocessor.
    A good spreadsheet.
    More than anything else, a good agenda and good desktop syncronisation.

    All things that suck in the existing Zaurus software. That leaves a gap for 3rd party commercial or freeware replacements.

    The one piece of software which makes the machine worth using is IQNotes. It rocks, definite potential.

  8. Anybody making money off Zaurus apps? by gebran · · Score: 1

    First off, I'm not trying to be a troll. Really.

    Looking at Handango, Zaurus apps sell far less than their Palm/Pocket PC counterparts. Anybody here written/ported a commercial app to the Zaurus and care to share their experiences? Was it worth the time, profit wise? Were there problems with providing tech support for people running OpenZaurus or GPE? How much did it cost to get a commercial license for Qtopia?

    Thanks. (In case it wasn't obvious, I work for a company that sells Palm software, and we're considering porting some of our stuff to Zaurus.)

  9. Zaurus development by Kiriwas · · Score: 0

    I realize, as other people have pointed out, that Zaurus software doesn't sell. I'm not sure why. The Zaurus is a great tool that has a lot of potential for software development. I'm the process of writing some software for mine right now. I wish I had found this article earlier. -Kiriwas