Kernel, Shell Boots on DS Linux

mrseigen writes "According to dslinux.org, the Linux kernel successfully boots on the Nintendo DS along with a simple shell, sash. Input is done via the d-pad. How long until Netstumbler?" While maybe not the most practical platform, it's impressive on its technical merit.

Comments

Not practical?

[lostchicken]

Yeah, a portable device with a lot of battery power, wireless, two screens and a touchscreen input running a general purpose operating system that's relatively inexpensive and that many of us already have couldn't possibly be practical...

I'd never want my GameBoy to replace my palmpilot...

Re:Not practical?

[Zigg]

And, of course, DS homebrew is possible in any number of ways:

1. With a "PassMe" device -- a card that slides into the DS slot and instructs the DS to execute DS code from the GBA slot. Requires a piggybacked game card, which Nintendo helpfully provides with most DS units.
2. With "WifiMe" -- a downloadable-from-the-main-menu jump to the GBA slot. You're tied to a PC, but you don't need any hardware besides -- again -- a GBA card.
3. With a firmware update created by homebrewers that replaces the DS's ability to run GBA games with a new ability to run DS-mode code from the GBA slot.

Honestly, CowboyNeal... how can this not be practical? Is it just not as cool as playing JavaScript tetris -- tethered to a PC, mind you, and requiring the use of one particular game -- on a PSP?

Why not Kismet?

[shakezula]

It'd make more sense to wonder about Kismet. Netstumbler is a Win32 app, no Linux port to speak of, and it's not open source.

The "why"...

[Kjella]

Not only for the technical accomplishment, but for the sheer, "why?" factor...

I'm guessing because it hasn't been done before. I must admit I found most of the exercises in school boring, partly because they had already been solved. Many people don't want to be the 235,523th to create an MP3 player.

Making a OSS program copying closed source software isn't very creative either. Most "serious" applications and stuff have been done already, and so many of the projects left have more or less no reason. They're simply a challenge, and one you wish to solve on your own. No knocking down open doors, no "answer" to check against.

As much as it may seem trivial, creating something unique is a part of many people's self-realization. Some create a piece of art, some decorate their home or garden, some create a new piece of software. There's a tremendous feeling of achievement there you could never get by mere copying.

Kjella

Re:The "why"...

[Viol8]

"Many people don't want to be the 235,523th to create an MP3 player."

I think you mean "Many people don't want to call out to an mp3 API written by someone else who did all the hard work". If so many people in your school can understand and implement the actual MP3 algorithms then you must be attending a special undercover college of geniuses.

"There's a tremendous feeling of achievement there you could never get by mere copying."

And no ones ever tried to run linux on some inappropriate gadget before. Nope , this is a totally unique achievment. *cough*

Mind the key layout

[tepples]

I wouldn't imagine it would be all that difficult to code a software keyboard on the touch screen, and just have the user point to the letters he/she wants to type.

Don't lock yourself into QWERTY or Dvorak. Typing on a touch screen resembles typing with one finger more than anything else, but the QWERTY and Dvorak key layouts are designed to alternate keypresses between hands, which isn't always the best choice for single-finger typing. Look at Fitaly for inspiration.

I am giving some serious thought to actually doing this... after I evaluate the risks.

What risks, other than a possible patent on the Fitaly layout?

Re:Well

[Frogbert]

And naturally because this is a linux distribution there are two competing desktop environments.