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Ask Slashdot: Digital Pens On Linux?

Posted by timothy on from the pen-envy dept.

New submitter Gonzalez_S writes "There are many digital pens out there, but none of them seem to work on Linux; unless you combine them with a tablet. I have contacted many vendors (Lifetrons, Dane-Elec, ApenUSA, IntelliPen..) and only Intellipen responded that there is very limited support for Linux. Do any of you know of a digital pen that works fine using Linux on normal paper? Some options to explore: can the pen work in real time on my PC screen? Can it function as a mouse? Can the pen work offline? Do I need a tablet (preferably not)? I would be happy if anyone shares a success story here, as they seem a great tool."

5 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. It's all about pens. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    What is it with Slashdot and pens today?

  2. Re:Non-existent beast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The linux Wacom driver project is maintained by a Wacom employee and has positive feedback

  3. Re:Wacom Inkling by eric2hill · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxwacom/forums/forum/236871/topic/4686734

    The Wacom Inkling shows up as a drive with WPI files on it. It should work just fine in Linux since the heavy lifting is all done on the pen. And I didn't spend very long looking either.

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  4. Re:Non-existent beast by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In standard Slashdot fashion, I'm going to suggest something that ISN'T what the author requested, but it is something I found very useful.

    In our office, we have an HP digital 'sender'. It is little more than a glorified sheet feed scanner, but it is VERY useful for me. I take a lot of handwritten notes in meetings, and I'm never using the same notepad or pen. The result is that while I'd love to automatically digitize my notes on the fly, there would be many times in which I would forget the digital pen and be stuck with 2-3 sheets of paper that required extra effort to digitize (if it was possible).

    Relying on the scanner station is actually VERY simple. I just grab my notes, drop them into the sheet feeder, and press the button (preset for me). in about 2s/page, the machine scans my notes, converts it to a PDF, and either emails it to me or stores in my LAN receiving folder. I'm not sure if the station can do OCR on the fly (I'm sure some do), but a simple script can kick off an OCR job whenever a file is received from the document scanner.

    The entire process can be unattended, and for me, I just grab my notes and drop them right into the shredder. (It took me about a month of notes before I trusted the machine not to mess up).

    However, it works pretty well once you get it going. My notes get stored as a PDF, and I don't have to worry about compatability with a pen/tablet or batteries, or losing the pen, or buying special paper.

    It's not a perfect solution, but I've found it very useful, and if you don't find a compatible digitizing pen, this might be a fallback option, albeit a non-portable option.

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  5. A REALLY cheap one, with linux support by pjr.cc · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have a CHEAP digital pen (cost me 25$) called the "greenpoint mobile notetaker" (which i think is a pegasus notetaker rebadged).... its ultra simple. it works under linux and what the linux software gives you is a simple svg map of what you drew on a piece of paper. Its just a normal pen with a little tracking unit that somehow tracks everything you write... I dont use it too much, but the times i have its not failed me so far.

    http://scratchpost.dreamhosters.com/software/Pegasus_Notetaker/ will pull svg's from the pens tracking device thing

    but it looks very much like this http://www.gadgetvictims.com/2009/12/digital-note-taker-pen.html

    I find it works ok, but i've not really used any other digital pens, so i have no point of comparison - but at 25$ (which was on sale at the time) i just went "sure why not" and later found out it supported linux (which was a nice surprise).

    I had previously looked at things like livescribe and went "no linux support, wont bother". There are one or two i can see on aliexpress http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-USB-Digital-Pen-Digital-Mobile-Note-Taker-Digital-Handwriting-Capture-Device/519494331.html but i dont know if they're based on the same thing (and they're twice the price i paid) and hence will still support linux