Why Open Source Makes Sense For Handhelds

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 8, 2004 @07:34AM from the my-visor-is-still-chugging-along-without-it dept.

Guylhem writes "Are you still wondering why you should prefer an handheld running free software over one running Palm OS or Windows CE? Here's a short article to explain the main reasons you should consider. The most important are sustainability and freedom: you don't want your applications to break when you update your handheld OS or hardware, and you certainly want to decide what *you* may do with your data. Palm and Pocket PC's DRM protected and obscure formats stand in your way. That's another good reason to prefer free software: you have the source code so you can develop plug ins to read such obscure formats. Even better - you can stick to standards formats such as divx which are poorly supported on handhelds running proprietary software." On the topic of handhelds, tanmay submits brighthand.com's small chart of some upcoming handhelds and smart phones that may be launched in the coming months.

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Re:Slashdot by Snad · 2004-02-08 07:44 · Score: 5, Funny

This is slashdot...don't we all already think opensource is right for handhelds?

You're right - this is Slashdot, where we think open source is right for everything from servers through to electric can openers, from cellular phones to shoes.

Coming soon to Slashdot - the open source cravat.

I can hardly wait!
Re:Bad Platforms Make For Good Business by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-08 07:53 · Score: 5, Funny

That's the worst table I've ever seen.