Pandora As Zaurus Successor

[x86Daddy]

I used a Zaurus SL-5500 for years until I switched to using my cellphones for all basic PIM functions / sync and an OQO for mobile computing. After my OQO died, I pre-ordered the Pandora and eagerly await it... especially since Angstrom is the successor to OpenZaurus.

OPIE was my favorite environment / window manager on the Zaurus, wonderfully optimized for the small screen and a stylus / small keyboard device, and mine was always loaded with apps like an NMAP front-end, Wellenreiter (wifi scanner), an Ethereal port, emulators (I even published a little front-end script for the NES emulator for Zaurus users back in the day), TinyKATE (powerful, syntax highlighting code/text editor), and the lovely ability to script up GUI front-ends to command-line apps with ease.

Has anyone tried OPIE on a development Pandora, similar available device, etc...? Is anyone planning to run it on their Pandora upon receipt? Any known obstacles to this?

 

[musicalwoods]

EDIT: Wow, I was writing something and then realized that you stated everything in your post that I was going to write.

I've used OPIE on my Palm T|X that I'm trying to sell now. What advantages do you see with that WM as opposed to LXDE (my current favorite( Openbox)), E17, XFCE?

 

[DJWillis]

EDIT: Wow, I was writing something and then realized that you stated everything in your post that I was going to write.

I've used OPIE on my Palm T|X that I'm trying to sell now. What advantages do you see with that WM as opposed to LXDE (my current favorite( Openbox)), E17, XFCE?

OPIE is not an XServer Window Manager. It's a fork of QT Embedded (Qtopia) and runs directly on the framebuffer rather than an XServer.

OPIE works on the Pandora but a lot of the hard coded images need work to create 800*480 versions that look decent on the device. No one is doing any work in that area (as far as I know).

The reality is that OPIE may have a niche on the Pandora but I can't see it being a mainstay option (sorry to any OPIE devs I have just offended) as it lacks much active development.

 

[musicalwoods]

Thanks for the info I love learning new things about linux. I, too, doubt that OPIE will have much of a following. Wouldn't there be a compatibility issue with many applications due to the lack of an X server?

 

[x86Daddy]

Thanks for the info I love learning new things about linux. I, too, doubt that OPIE will have much of a following. Wouldn't there be a compatibility issue with many applications due to the lack of an X server?

And that was the drawback. OpenZaurus was available with GPE (X based) or OPIE (Qt based). The difference that made OPIE so worthwhile to me was that instead of adapting a desktop paradigm to a palmtop, they really were using a palmtop-all-the-way sort of design, and it ran very fast and convenient for that. The library of apps with Qt GUIs was pretty substantial, and unlike the enormous library of X apps, these were all optimized for palmtop use. I *was* stuck with Konqueror or Opera instead of Firefox though.

A post above mentions the icon sizes... the last Japanese Zaurii had 640x480 screens, so I'm pretty sure higher res icons were available, but I'd definitely think SVG would be the modern, more appropriate way to go, especially with free icon sets out there like Crystal... dunno what it would take to change OPIE to render SVG icons though. I never got to the point that I was developing for it... just constantly tweeked it on my Zaurus.

 

[mahousaru]

Maybe you should look to Sharp for the Zaurus successor....

http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/090827.html

If only it had bluetooth and/or 3G capabilities...

 

[optional106]

If only it had bluetooth and/or 3G capabilities...

You can get USB bluetooth dongles that only stick out of the USB port a little.
They are cheap too , but it means one of the USB ports would be used up.
I'm not sure why people consider built in bluetooth so essential, when there are plenty of solutions for this.

Yes, its nice to have built in, but not the end of the world if it doesn't.

 

[mahousaru]

I'm not sure why people consider built in bluetooth so essential, when there are plenty of solutions for this.

Yes, its nice to have built in, but not the end of the world if it doesn't.

To tether to a 3G phone! Having dongles, or cables hanging off an onthego device is a pita imho!

 

[Pleng]

Having dongles, or cables hanging off an onthego device is a pita imho!

It's pretty difficult to notice one of the really small dongles 'hanging off' your laptop...

 

[Vorporeal]

Size notwithstanding, it uses up one of your two precious USB ports.

 

[x86Daddy]

Size notwithstanding, it uses up one of your two precious USB ports.

People used to hack the Zaurii by finding the solder points for additional USB headers and tearing up little BT and Wifi dongles to attach them internally... There was a lot of that going on with the early EeePCs too. That said, I use my BT and Wifi extensively, so in-device is needed... it's why I passed on the last Zaurii, despite all the other great features. And it's another reason I'm very excited about the Pandora. I like the option to hack the device to my future needs... I don't like a requirement to hack a device to my current needs nearly as much.

My favorite, dirt cheap, tiny USB dongle: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11866

 

[Pleng]

Size notwithstanding, it uses up one of your two precious USB ports.

Fair point. I guess it depends on how many USB devices you carry around with you and need to use all the time. My laptop has a Wifi stick pretty-much permanently in one USB port (internal card is bust) and a bluetooth dongle permanently in the other.

The final USB port tends to go pretty much unused.

 

[levi]

My EeePC has three USB ports. My mouse uses up one, and I usually use one of the two sockets on the right since I mouse on the left and haven't got a lot of space. But my DVD drive takes two sockets but they need to be close together, so I have to switch the mouse over to the left socket, and plug the DVD drive on the right. If I then want to plug in a CF card via a card reader, something has to go.

You can never have enough USB ports. Thankfully, there are USB hubs to give us more, if we're near a power socket.

 

[Pleng]

Of course, there's always the bluetooth mouse option - that way you get to add bluetooth to your laptop with the net loss of 0 USB ports (assuming you always have a mouse plugged in)

 

[mahousaru]

Having dongles, or cables hanging off an onthego device is a pita imho!

It's pretty difficult to notice one of the really small dongles 'hanging off' your laptop...

My point about BT or 3GB was aimed at the new zaurus, which would be a lot smaller then the latest gen netbooks....

Whilst you make a good point about the mini BT dongle on a netbook, my 1000he (nix install ofc) actually has BT, so the dongle i would want is 3G. Also with a netbook you can't just snap it shut and pop it in your pocket, unless you are wearing a kangaroo suit. Lets say you did and had a 3G dongle hanging off it, good chance to snap the dongle or break the port.

Different devices, different uses. With my 1000he, I don't mind tethering that with a wire as it allows me to keep my phone charged and I'll use it in situations where I can settle down. With my onthego device I want to be able to stand on the tube and play a game, or jump off the train whilst hammering out replies to emails etc.