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Palm to go Linux
jetkins writes "The Melbourne Age reports that company officials announced Tuesday that Palm will move to a new Linux-based platform 'to help the company compete better.' The move was announced 'during a meeting with analysts in New York, where they also discussed the company's business strategy and refused to talk about recent rumors of a possible buyout.'"
Were they not going to do this a few years ago as well and then shelved the whole thing.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Given that PDAs are falling behind in the face of smart phones, going to Linux might just entice the linux haXX0r community to produce some fun applications that help Palm in the marketplace.
I don't know if there is already an unofficial palm Linux, but having it officially sanctioned would be a good thing.
Hell, I'm tempted to get one now just to have some coding fun, seriously.
I loved the classic Palm applications. No boot-up time, no waiting, no graphics-heavy Windows-like desktop compressed to the size of an index card ...
There seemed to be a lot of hobbyist development, too. People found ways to make the Palm keep track of what they wanted. As I recall, the Palm database format encouraged a lot of interchangeability and standardization. Mind-mapping and outlines were easy as pie and quick to bring up, so I rarely lost any ideas.
When they moved with Windows CE (or whatever they called the mobile variant that week), I threw up my hands. The hardware wasn't suited to it, and there were few -- if any -- replacements for the apps I cared to use. As far as I know, all the good stuff went the way of the dodo.
So I guess my question is: how does the move to Linux bode for developers? Will there be compatibility with any of the classic Palm OS or Windows CE apps, or will we once again have to build from scratch?
You have severely underestimated the GPL. I suggest you go read it. The GPL is not that dense. But to answer the question at hand, yes, all customers will have access to the source code for the GPL portions (which will be the bulk of the OS). All customers will have the right to re-distribute and modify that code. That is the price Palm pays for using Free software.
Given Palm's history of being developer friendly, it will probably be possible to flash the PDAs with custom ROMs with all proprietary code stripped. Depending on the exact terms, it may even be possible to create a custom ROM with proprietary backwards compatibility code included.
OK, lets be honest, we all need our cell phones.
Some of us need our blackberries.
We all want our music.
Rather than juggle all three, there is no reason why the cell phone can't do everything and more. After all a computer, whether it is in a P.C., Cellphone, or what ever is still a computer.
IMHO, Palm is wrong, they are coming into the system from the wrong direction, they MUST focus on the phone first and most, then blackberry, then MP3 player. Deliver a package to Verizon, Cingular, Orange, etc.
This is why iPhone will do better.
As far as syncing is concerned, we use the 650's and the 700p's to sync through the phone network to our internal linux server. It updates their client contacts, the employee directory, and their personal contacts nearly flawlessly. It's not too hard to do with pilotsync and python/tcl/perl/whatever. We use tcl here, and the code to run the sync (connect to postgres, wrapper for pilotsync api calls, etc) is 474 lines of code, and the code to manage and initiate incoming syncs is 6.
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I don't consider brilliant but limited a criticism at all. While I really like Linux I also wonder if it is the best choice for a PDA. Your comment about how it isn't great for people slapping together apps with a RAD is actually a pretty big criticizing of Linux. One thing that I notice is that many applications that other people would do in Visual Basic or Delphi under Windows are done with LAMP under Linux. While a not a bad way to set up an application if you are running from a server it really isn't easy to install and run for the average Grandmother. A good RAD system would be a killer app for a PDA. Linux is great but it is also very general purpose. Symbian is a great example of an OS that is optimized for a PDA type system. I am excited to see what Palm produces since I am no fan of WinCE but I still wonder if Linux has become a one size fits all OS at the expense of other ideas in OS development. I would love to see something new and really different come from FOSS.
BTW
Linux could have a killer RAD development system. All we need is to integrate Eclipse, SWT, SQLite, and GJC into one easy to use and configure package.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I used to like Palm, but I eventually moved to Hipster PDA. It works better.
What I'd really like to see is somebody offering the equivalent Palm m505 for under $50. Ideally well under. That would not only revive the idea of a PIM, but actaully revitalize the PDA product category. The problem is at the price points vendors sell modern PDAs at, you have to stuff more power and functions into them than people need. The results are to bulky, expensive and complex to justify the price point.
That's what's really behind convergence. If you're going to buy a lot of things you don't need all that much, its very inefficient to buy them more than once.
Given modern technology, PDAs should be one step up from disposable. If you drop your PDA or lose it, you go to the drug store, grab a new one, sync and go.
The 500 series is just about right with one proviso: it should be possible to dial your phone wirelessly from them. It might be nice to be able to browse the web, but that could go in Cheap But Highly Useful PIM v 2. If you could buy something that useful for $49, you probably would. If you could buy it for $19.99 you almost certainly would. Multiple PIM ownership would be common. You'd probably even pick one up if you forgot yours at home.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Out of the box it only had support for Windows, and was really designed for windows users.
Yes, it was designed for Windows users. That is evident by the the security of the original release. no root password + an ftp server that binds to all interfaces (and can't be disabled without killing the graphical environment) == instant fun!
Reid
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
It is hard to tell whether Palm, inc. announced that they are going to release a pda based on the Access Linux platform, or if they have gotten back into the software business and developed their own platform.
- based+Treos/2100-1041_3-6175171.html
The latter, according to CNet:
http://news.com.com/Palm+touts+stability+of+Linux
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.