Pandora Software

[Pickle]

So everyone is talking about HW, which I think aside from a few minor details it is set in stone. What I see as the next step is software.

It seems so its been established that we will have debian packages with a 1 buton press install system.
What has not been dicussed is the software that should come on every Pandora and those that should not.

I see the Pandora having a distro (firmware) packages that come on the unit, highly recomended packages (but not reallly needed)(libraries really, somthin like Java), and all third party packages such as games and higher level programs.

I think the most critical is what is included in the main distro, for example Pandora will have wireless. Should an application like WPA_supplicant be included in the distro or as a recommended but not needed app. It doesnt have to be that application, but there should be support for encrypted networks. I hope you see where im trying to take this discussion.

I would like to hear what software you think should come with the Pandora, what should work out of the box?
As you can see I think Pandora should support encrypted networks from the start.

 

[whiskthecat]

I think it should come with:

Web Browser - Something that works nicely
Media Player - Music, Movies, Images <-- Thanks Chip, I forgot that last one
Wordpad - Simple text editor
File manager - To move, rename, copy, and delete files
Chat - Basic chat client
Sound Recorder - Might come in handy

 

[parodius]

maybe not out of the box but would really like a spreadsheet program

 

[jpic3yk]

maybe not out of the box but would really like a spreadsheet program

Open Office would be a great program for all that if it could be ported

 

[_VWV_]

It works on zaurus, so from a hardware point of view OO is possible. But if something goes wrong Abi word + gnumeric will do fine.

 

[Pickle]

maybe not out of the box but would really like a spreadsheet program

Open Office would be a great program for all that if it could be ported


That would be nice, but I dont know if there would be enough space for it. There's only 256 mb of nand.

# Linux kernel version 2.2.13 or higher, glibc2 version 2.2.0 or higher
# 128 Mbytes RAM
# 200 Mbytes available disk space
# X-Server with 800 x 600 or higher resolution with at least 256 colour



Another biggie should be SDL hardware accelerated libraries.

 

[Chip]

I think it should come with:

Web Browser - Something that works nicely
Media Player - Music, Movies
Wordpad - Simple text editor
File manager - To move, rename, copy, and delete files
Chat - Basic chat client
Sound Recorder - Might come in handy

I think this is an ideal goal for an out-of-the-box software suite. I would also include an image viewer. Craig et al. have said that the first demo units would be going out to developers soon. Here's hoping they can get some basic software ready in time to ship with the first batch.

Just remember, even if the device ships "naked", it will not be long before plenty of software is available.

 

[atomicthumbs]

It need solitaire.

 

[Karel Jansens]

SIAG Office would be nice.

 

[letsridebmx104]

Feeling the same list as whisk... very nice short and sweet...

 

[Shiny]

... and a simple drawing program please [:

 

[dodgyville]

python and pygame ... perfect for homebrew

 

[Magnulus]

Something that I think would help the Pandora greatly is if you can connect to a download centre directly without even opening the browser. Like, say there are categories in the system, so I'm in the game category of it, and I want a new game, but I'm not at home. I click a "get more games" button, and I come to a custom version of the file archive that has featured and other games for me to browse through and when I find the game I want, I'll just choose "install" and the Pandora downloads and installs automagically for me.

Obviously, the games would have to be fitted with a unified installer, but that's not so difficult. If you want to be in the direct-download system, you add the installer to your game. Gives a greater incentive for our great game programmers to adhere to unified systems and provides users on the go with an easy way to get more action. This could obviously work for media players and other kinds of software.

I don't know if this is easily implemented, but it sounds simple enough in my head.

 

[markiej]

I think that GMENU2X (PANmenuDORA?) should be the shell. With a launcher, media player, and HW utility.

 

[gavie]

PANmenuDORA

XD LMAO

But no, I would prefer something more window-based, assuming multi tasking is possible..

 

[cappuchok]

Something that I think would help the Pandora greatly is if you can connect to a download centre directly without even opening the browser. Like, say there are categories in the system, so I'm in the game category of it, and I want a new game, but I'm not at home. I click a "get more games" button, and I come to a custom version of the file archive that has featured and other games for me to browse through and when I find the game I want, I'll just choose "install" and the Pandora downloads and installs automagically for me.

Obviously, the games would have to be fitted with a unified installer, but that's not so difficult. If you want to be in the direct-download system, you add the installer to your game. Gives a greater incentive for our great game programmers to adhere to unified systems and provides users on the go with an easy way to get more action. This could obviously work for media players and other kinds of software.

I don't know if this is easily implemented, but it sounds simple enough in my head.

We already know the Pandora will have some sort of package system. This should make it easy enough to implement what you are describing, similar to the "Install/Remove Programs" control panel included in Ubuntu. Note that I'm not saying the Pandora will use the Debian packaging system or a central software repository, some say it will but IIRC no one from the "dev team" has confirmed this (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!).

 

[monkeyo2]

I was thinking, it might be useful if the Pandora came with some sort of screen capture capabilities.

If n00b users (like me) could easily post an image of the problems they’re experiencing, that might help developers give advice and iron out problems. More experienced users could use screen shot to illustrate the correct way of doing things, making tutorials and possibly even promotional materials.

Just a thought.

 

[Karel Jansens]

... and a simple drawing program please [:

If someone were to make something like ArtRage for Linux, I would be a very happy camper, especially if the Pandora were to have a pressure-sensitive screen.

ArtRage does run under Wine (and they even sell a UMPC-optimized version), but Wine is Wine, and Linux is better.

 

[Pickle]

Something that I think would help the Pandora greatly is if you can connect to a download centre directly without even opening the browser. Like, say there are categories in the system, so I'm in the game category of it, and I want a new game, but I'm not at home. I click a "get more games" button, and I come to a custom version of the file archive that has featured and other games for me to browse through and when I find the game I want, I'll just choose "install" and the Pandora downloads and installs automagically for me.

Obviously, the games would have to be fitted with a unified installer, but that's not so difficult. If you want to be in the direct-download system, you add the installer to your game. Gives a greater incentive for our great game programmers to adhere to unified systems and provides users on the go with an easy way to get more action. This could obviously work for media players and other kinds of software.

I don't know if this is easily implemented, but it sounds simple enough in my head.

We already know the Pandora will have some sort of package system. This should make it easy enough to implement what you are describing, similar to the "Install/Remove Programs" control panel included in Ubuntu. Note that I'm not saying the Pandora will use the Debian packaging system or a central software repository, some say it will but IIRC no one from the "dev team" has confirmed this (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!).


I think this is what everyone is epecting in general. The problems I see are logistics, who is going to package each app, who is going to make sure critical packages are valid and wont brick everyones unit. With this system its going to need a lot more care than the current filesharing system.
I would propose that when the system is in place certain people are placed as admin's to the system. For example no one would want the SDL libs to be updated by just anyone, only some like paeryn would be able to update it.
There should also be a test facility to allow those packagers to test the package before making it public.

 

[Yuglooc]

but IIRC no one from the "dev team" has confirmed this (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!).

Your wrong, "Check the Our New Machine, the Pandora" Topic. I'm to lazy to do a throughout search but here's a quick one http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showt...mp;#entry558447