OR PERL, bash, fortran,cobol....etc.etc. THAT is the beauty of Linux. I realize there is development issues mostly on Linux. But the thing is is even after Sharp concedes and decides not to make Zaurii, there still will be Open Zaurus. There STILL will be an option for users who chose the Zaurus. This is unlike those Pocket PC's who used non flash roms and also the ones who have discontinued support (do you need to ask if Casio's e200 is getting a WM 2003 update?). I have actually picked up a Zaurus and checked it out and it seems quite useable. Linux FLEW on the Zaurus and it had Jeode on it as well. Hardware support, strangely enough, is MUCH wider in Linux. If it worked on other platforms, it should work or be easier to get to work then Pocket PC. Folks can also write drivers for these items. Who writes them for Pocket PC? Either the company who made the device or Microsoft. In the case of another article posted today about the CF problem....this could be fixed in a day or so by Linux hackers. Also, since it is Linux, in some cases, depending on what a program does, you can usually recompile something and it works on the Zaurus. Granted, some useres won't want to but as long as there's tools for packaging applications ( and there are ) it only takes one person to compile it and post it. With a Zaurus, it's even possible to take some devices such as that SD Digicam that is only for palm and write apps and drivers to make it work on a Zaurus. Granted, not every user will want to do any of this but like I said as long as someone can package it and make it easier to install anyone can install it. So, I guess I can kind of see a reason to run Linux on a PDA. My reason is a little harder to get over. How many open source mapping programs are there? None!
I know that Compaq at one point in time supported Linux development on the iPAQ, I should know they fixed my sick 3850 when it got a nasty case of bad Linux ROM, but have not heard anything new on it. There might be a place and time for Linux on the PDA's but not today and not any time soon. It needs functionality, support and lots of working apps to be considered ready for the mass market.
OR PERL, bash, fortran,cobol....etc.etc. THAT is the beauty of Linux. I realize there is development issues mostly on Linux. But the thing is is even after Sharp concedes and decides not to make Zaurii, there still will be Open Zaurus.
There is still support for 8 - Track but so what. Linux needs to pick its battles, I don't think this is one of them, at least not yet.
Re: Because Linux is free. Andy's mistake: let's make an accurate calculation
One could and should be biased when talking about personal opinions. But when talking numbers, one should be clear-minded.
Andy says PocketPC is USD20 for an OEM. Hopefully it's so. Anyway, it is not 4% at all. When the price for PPC is somewhere around USD300, it's street price. The OEM gets at most 50% of it. Actually with all rebounds and channel discounts, they may well end up with less than 40%. Meaning what OEM gets for the hardware it lets out is some USD150. Now let's calculate his profit, not the revenew, which is of no interest to us. Color TFT screens are rather expensive and cost not less than USD30-40. Add memory ($20), CPU($10), other components ($30) production cost ($10), etc, and you will find out that the OEM's margin on each device is at most USD30-50. Add advertizing costs, add first year gurantee costs, they will eat up another USD20 from each device at least. Then USD20 to be paid to MS is HUGE, it's hurting, it makes the whole game almost worhtless to play unless you sell very large amounts. And this is the point. When you sell large amounts (I mean hundreds of thousands at least, actually millions), you have to pay to MS millions and tens of millions of dollars. Will it make sense then to spend a million or two to make your own OS and stop paying almost all of your profit to Microsoft? Sure it is reasonable.
The only problem is that consumer needs trademarks. When you are CASIO you don't need trademarks: make your own OS, sell whatever you like through a well-made dedicated channel along with watches, calculators, etc and be happy. But when you are, say, SHARP without such a dedicated channel, you have to build something that channel will accept. Linux is mainstream at the moment, with so many companies behind investing into marketing hype (including IBM, Intel), and it would be stupid not to make use of that. And there is an obvious audience they are targeting: people that like to think differently (the same strategy used by Apple). Both Palm and PocketPC are in now way striking anymore, they are commonplace. They are so many people around having them. So people that whant to look different and amaze others will like Linux device. Normally that's about 10% of the potential market. Not bad.
So the whole strategy is pretty obvious and I would really be surprised if it would be otherwise. Because normally companies have well-paid marketing teams doing surverys and looking for chances on the market. There is a technical challenge however, and one has to meet it. As far as I know, Sharp did well enough, I am not sure about this Yopy thing. But when you want to make a competitive product that no other may easily beat, you have to face challenges.
I know that Compaq at one point in time supported Linux development on the iPAQ, I should know they fixed my sick 3850 when it got a nasty case of bad Linux ROM, but have not heard anything new on it. There might be a place and time for Linux on the PDA's but not today and not any time soon. It needs functionality, support and lots of working apps to be considered ready for the mass market.
Compaq (HP nowadays) still supports linux on the ipaq. Take a look at www.handhelds.org. If you want to know what's going on then I suggest you subscribe to a mailinglist like "familiar" or "gpe" or "opie" or "ipaq". You can find the links to the pages where you can subscribe on the page I mentioned earlier.
First, as some have already stated, I would think one of the biggest reasons an OEM would go with Linux over MS/Palm would be the licensing hoopla / restrings the main two would require.
Second, as far as cost, sure $20 per deivce might seem like much, but if I were planning on manufacture say, 100,000 of these devices, that $2,000,000. If you can license the Linux distro for say $5, then thats a savings of 1.5 million dollars. Profit to put in the pocket, or piss into the wind... thats no small change if you are a smaller OEM.
What if someone wanted to rewrite the tasking scheduler? Make a completely different input model than SIP? How about HI-RES screens that rotate? Blow memory limitations off the map?
Like WisBar, Gigabar, etc.
Not a task SWITCHER, a scheduler. I'm talking kernel level and you're talking user level.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrylb
For a SIP, you mean like Fitaly or transcriber (how many more ways do you need to input text).
No, those all use SIP. I'm trying to illustrate the next big thing might come along (tilt sensor for input, Nintendo PowerGlove, who knows?) and Linux can respond faster to big changes like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrylb
With HiRes Screens, are you meaning like with VGA output or do you have a magical way of increasing the static resolution of tft screens that I have not heard of? Memory limitations? There is only so much 64 Mb RAM can do.
Again, we're on different pages. I mean OEM, you mean user. Say HP wants to put 640x640 screens in their iPaq. What are they gonna do? I mean say SanDisk comes out with 64GB expansion cards. What happens now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmarkevich
The OEM can do this. Actually, the USER can do this, since GPL requires the code be included. This kind of flexibility is what embedded devices really need, and Palmtops don't desperately NEED but can be helpful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrylb
OK, so if you want extra functionality, you will recode it? Great. At least with PPC you have the option of C/C++, C#, VB, etc, with linux you have to know C/C++ - What percentage of end users know C++? < 1%? So how is this helpful to the user?
If I'm an OEM, yes, I will code it. I will rewrite the whole kernel if I want. Probably in C/C++. Remember I never said end users HAVE to do it, it's mostly that end users can benefit a lot from what the hackers do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrylb
My point is that the wonderful benefits that linux offers come at a price,
And my point is, same story with Pocket PC, and sometimes that price is virtually impossible to meet.
Don't confuse free "gratuit" with what should be free "libre".
I don't. This article compares Pocket PC with Linux and says that using Linux would eliminate license costs. I say: if that's true, then you'll have to add investments costs around development, testing etc. Otherwise, you will need to license someone else's work.
Re: Because Linux is free
Linear Mode
