Re: [NTLK] Linux PDA Similar to Newton

2009/5/20 Gregg Aydelotte <graydelotte@bellsouth.net>:
> I stumbled on this Linux device which has the looks of something that
> could have been derived from a Newton. What was interesting to me is
> that it can function as a cell phone. Check out the speaker and
> microphone locations, as they look to be on the upper and opposite lower
> corners.
>
>  http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT3334419107.html

I'm not sure if this piece of hardware will it ever make into
production. The article was updated in 2000 for the last time. For
nowadays standards it can be considered "ugly" (well, at least, for
me).
It makes use of a Linux 2.4 kernel. From my experience with other
devices using this kernel version, there is no support for recent
kernels. The early Sharp Zaurus models are stuck with the latest 2.4.x
kernels for this reasons.

Linux' root in Unix OS isn't the real problem here, it's the fact that
the kernel interface isn't stable enough to allow some proper
development. If devices like these (or even OpenMoko[1]) would be
based on any BSD for example, I would be fine with that.
BTW: OS X has some real 70th roots, as it's based on FreeBSD 5.x,
which in turn is based on the original AT&T Unix sources... ;)

[1] http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Received on Wed May 20 09:09:21 2009