Hi,

Most PDAs in the market run on the Palm OS or Win CE. Are there any PDA (or PDA phone) that runs on a Linux-based OS? I'm looking around at PDAs at the moment, and would very much be interested in a PDA running on Linux.



TIA and Regards,
Edwin

YES!!! Actually, you can run linux on some iPaqs. Sharp manufactured, and still does manufactur PDAs that run a version of Linux. Look into the Zaurus. I believe Motorola sells some "smartphones" that run linux, but those are more of a phone form factor...

Thanks! I went to the Motorola site and saw some nice smartphones that run on Linux.

My next question is, can we install additional applications for a PDA that runs on Linux? If so, are there any resources on the net for these Linux PDA resources? And how can they be installed? Are distros an issue? (i.e. does different PDA run on different distros, and some applications only run on some distros?)

For e.g., for Palm OS, applications can be found on the net very easily, and they can be installed by plugging the PDA to the PC, and using an installer programme on the PC to install the downloaded "packages". (I'm using the Palm as reference as that is the only PDA OS i have ever used.)



Thanks and Regards,
Edwin

The zaurus uses *.ipk files. www.elsix.org is a place to browse many packages available. The Zaurus comes with a sharp rom on it, but there are many "distros"(or ROMs, in the embedded world) available. I personally use OpenZaurus, which is very similar to debian. It uses it's own "feeds", or repositories, to insure compatability. Many of the iPaqs(I believe all) uses a ROM called familiar, which has two environments, GPE, and OPIE. GPE is more similar to GNOME, whereas OPIE is similar to KDE. www.oesf.org is a good place to start finding out more information. I personally have a Zaurus SL-5500, which was one of the 3 models that was released in the US. The rest were released in Japan. If you want a new one, plan on spending approx. $550.00. I got my 5500 from ebay for $115. The newest one, the C3100 has 128mb ram, an 4GB HD, and operates similar to a tablet/laptop convertible. It's called a clamshell model, but it opens like a laptop, and can swivel the screen to act like a tablet.

Thanks MS/Linux,

The links you gave, the ELSI and OESF, seems to be more catered to Zaurus? hmm... i just browsed over to Sharp's website, and it seems like i will have a bit of a problem getting a Zaurus where i am. Besides, the newer models seem to be released only in Japan.

Anyway, i would be more keen on a PDA phone (or smartphone), since my mobile needs replacing as well. Any recommendations on that? Seems like Motorola has got some models running on Linux, but i am concerned about the availability and accessibility of additional software for those models.



Thanks and Regards,
Edwin

ummm....yeah. ELSI and OESF are primarily for the Zaurus, however I believe the Familiar ROM also uses *.ipk, I'm not certain however. Motorola is the only phone maker I know of that makes phones with linux. AFAIK, there is no real project to put additional software on the Motorola phones. If you live in the US there are importers from Japan for the new models of zaurii. Otherwise, there's always ebay. PriceJapan has the best prices(I believe) on imported Zaurii, but Conics.net has good prices as well.

Motorola has some excellent linux smartphones. I currently own one of them. As you may be knowing one has the option of J2ME applications to be installed on almost any phones nowadays. If you are talking about the native apps then there is great development community developing native apps for these phones. Already OPIE has been ported as well as doom.

check www.motorolafans.com for details.

More and more embedded devices use Linux, less and less Windows.
Even Palm is switching to linux:
http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS4663700447.html