Re: [seul-edu] Linux-based palmtop

[kirsty <kirsty@iii.rmit.edu.au>]

Hi
You might like to also take a look at this-
"Morphy One" is an open source hardware development project in Japan, by OHPA
(Open Hardware Palmtop computing Association) Palmtop PC user group.
"Morphy One" is claimed to be the first IBM PC/AT compatible- architecture-based
palmtop PC produced only by users. ("Morphy One" itself does not include
software.) The project aims to put out all the data on its development process
and specifications under GPL.  Prototyping and quantity production will be done
by Morphy Planning & Co., Ltd., a joint-stock companyinvested by 106 users. They
plan to disclose all the processes such as the process of working out the
production cost and the volume price. Though Morphy Planning & Co., Ltd. is
planning to sell hardware only in Japan, they claim, of course, that anyone can
produce Morphy One based products locally, freely and for free, under GPL. That
means local vendors can become Morphy One distributors to localize, package, and
distribute Morphy One, to make profit to pay off production cost and
distribution cost (as long as they don't
restrict other people's rights).
http://www.MorphyOne.org/about_e/

Cheers,
Kirsty

TJ Miller jr wrote:

> I have one on the way -
> http://www.agendacomputing.com
>
> My supervisor recently requested (okay, pretty much required) that we all
> carry palm-tops so that no one has any excuse for missing meetings, not
> taking notes at one, etc etc. The school reimburses our out-of-pocket cost
> up to $250 (the cheapest Palm Pilots are within that range), but not beyond
> that. So, Instead of choosing between a decent Palm Pilot that costs too
> much, and cheap one that doesn't do anything, I went with the world's first
> all-Linux PDA :)
>
> It isn't officially due out as a consumer product until April, but the
> developer version is out now, and it cost me roughly $ US190, including
> shipping. It comes with a standard suite of programs, but there are
> cross-compilers and libs out there that allow you to build your own programs
> for it, or port someone else's into it (someone even ported apache into the
> thing just to say they could) Almost everything in this palmtop is GPL'd,
> including the kernel. Also, the commercial version comes in 7 languages (at
> least as far as I could gather from the site), though I don't know if the
> handwriting recognition package can handle things like umlauts and other
> non-western iso characters (something for the developer community to work
> on, IIRC.) The packages used in the Agenda VR (the name of the PDA)  involve
> FLTK, Busybox, Kaffe, etc etc... it also uses XF86 (albeit a smaller
> version), which allows even more compatibility.
>
> There is one caveat, though... if you get the developer version, and decide
> to really tinker with it (you can even put your own MIPS-based kernel in
> there if you want), expect (and expect to report) bugs. Otherwise you may
> want to wait until the consumer version comes out in a few weeks.
>
> Anyrate, I figured that if you're looking for a cheaper PDA that looks nice
> but is more powerful than the Palm Pilot, go for it...
>
> Regd's,
> TJ Miller jr
> Linux Instructor
> http://www.datc.tec.ut.us
>
> --
> Years ago the late, great Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari, the survivor
> of a dozen hair-raising wrecks, was asked why he chose such a dangerous
> career. "How do you want to die?" asked Nuvolari. "Peacefully in bed," was
> the reply. "Then how do you find the courage to turn off the lights each
> night?" he mused.