Tablet PC with Slackware
 

Hi all,

I'm trying to upgrade/deface my '70s car with kind of a board-computer :D . Now I have an old Asus EEE 901 which would be perfect, except the touch screen capability. I made some research but didn't find anything great but this Eee hobbyist-status update with a touch screen. Of course to a certain degree I could live with that, but seeing advice from people unmounting their devices completely without ESD protection or non-isolated screwdrivers and such, makes me think it's rather luck that it works :confused: .

Is there a small tablet which runs Slackware or ARMedSlack (with Slackware I could tinker, but I don't want to do with hardware if possible). I have no idea yet about ARM and/or tablets (although I am connected with hardware design and read the Raspberry-Threads :) ), so any hints are appreciated (even if they are just links where to read and sort out).

But: Android is not a solution :tisk:

Many thanks in advance

I believe that you should just buy an whatever x86 Tablet PC, i.e. an WindPad 110W and start the customization...

I do not known (and believe) there to be tablets on sale, with Slackware installed native.

Me neither. But just asking if there are ppl who know things that work or have any ideas

I had been looking at the ZaTab: http://zareason.com/shop/zatab.html
This tablet positions itself as a real "open source friendly" tablet, allowing full customization and root access, as well as having a selection of hardware components that are opensource driver friendly (such as the Mali-400 GPU).

Unfortunately the tablet costs $ 350 which is too much money to consider buying it on a whim.
However if I had such a tablet, I would certainly work on getting Slackware running on it. I have been talking to the company who produces the tablet and they would be very interested in seeing a Linux distro running on it (their own focus is Android 4.0).

I do already have a (not fully complete and therefore still non-public) ARM port of Slackware with hard-float (FPU) support for my TrimSlice computer and it would be fun to get multi-touch KDE's plasma-active running on this tablet.

Should I consider running a fund-raiser?

Eric

Yes please :) If I can help this way, then I do.

It's difficult I suppose given how tablets are flooding the market these days. I've seen some utter garbage about, especially the sub £100-stuff often advertised on shopping channels.

I wouldn't consider a tablet below £200 worth looking at, but that's still a substantial sum just for experimenting.

Exactly. And problem could also be, that after some time you are able to get stuff running, the same model isn't available anymore, and you have to start experimenting with a new type again.

It's not cheap but the Samsung Slate 7 should do. It coems wih WIn7 installed but will run OS X and Linux. It's basically an Intel i5 based laptop in a tablet format. Comes with a separate bluetooth keyboard as well as the Wacom based stylus/touch screen.

I would prefer to stay far away from any non ARM powered tablet. Low power, long battery times, and still decent performance.

Eric

I never really thought much of tablets....Until the office gave me a free iPad yesterday! LOL. It's actually quite nice. I got a ZAGGfolio case for it that includes a small bluetooth keyboard so I can use it like a touch enabled netbook or standard tablet. The only problem is that it's running iOS! Don't get me wrong, I have an iPhone 4s after owning a 3GS for 2 years, and as far as appliances go, Apple makes a nice one. But the second I started using it I found myself wanting Slackware on it.

That Za looks like a very nice little tablet and $350 is much more attractive than the price of this iPad if I actually had to pay for it myself. I've been looking at several Apple appliances that I really like (I like my girlfriend's AppleTV too), and thinking that with a good Slackware ARM port and a few good Slackbuild ports like VLC would really allow for some incredibly cool and powerful devices. I really do hope your ARM port goes well, and yes, I do think that you should start a fundraiser for that tablet if it would help get Slackware on it! I would donate a little money for you to get a tablet going that I thought I too would like to own!

I had held off this project a bit... because I do not like to beg for money. I initially thought I could finance it myself, but these days more money flows out of my pocket each month than my employer adds back to my bank account.

I'll have to consider this fundraiser, after Slackware 14 sees the light and I have time.

Eric

Well, my funds are a bit low at present due to household repairs, but count me in for a donation in the not too distant future.

As I said, I will donate. Count me in here.

deleted.

Hey Eric! 14.0 is here! Get to work please! Lol, of course I'm joking, but I'm still very excited about the prospect! :D

Someone from Canonical just demoed Ubuntu running on the Nexus 7 tablet
http://youtu.be/_2tGHfmM-TU

With accelerated graphics working apparently (which is a problem with those Allwinner A10 tablets)

The tiny 7" screen would probably make a normal desktop environment difficult to use, but might be great for Plasma Active.

The tablet starts at $200 and can be purchased here:
http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7
Anybody thinking about buying might want to wait, though, because Google is about to double the storage and keep the price the same.

yes, and now there's even a PPA repository and an automated procedure for installing Ubuntu 12.04 on Nexus 7.

I just started wondering if there's a way to do this with other distributions (read: Slackware :D )

Yeah I tried it out for a little bit.

Runs fairly smooth, but it's very frustrating to use with a touchscreen.
I just ordered a wireless keyboard with a built-in touchpad, when it arrives I might try to get armedslack running on my N7.

I'd contribute. I've been thinking about a ZaTab as well, but ... ZaReason has not responded to my last two emails. I don't know, maybe I asked too many questions? I feel like I must have ticked them off somehow.

Probably just paranoia.

/G

When (eventually) a how-to is written for installing Slackware on a tablet, which desktop is best suited for the tablet environment?

I've thought about that, and depending on how touch actually works it could be fluxbox? I know that sounds kind of silly, but when you think of a configurable menu with click anywhere support it makes sense. I think KDE is supposed to be working on a plasma desktop for touch. I was always under the impression that Gnome3 was meant for touch, kind of like the Metro interface for Win8... almost unusable on a desktop, but supposedly very friendly for touchscreens.

I installed E17 to try it out, and it asked me if I had a touchscreen during first run. Bohdi, an e17 and ubuntu based distro, is supposed to be very good for touchscreen use, and has a special tablet layout. So possibly e17.