[ILUG] handhelds/psion5 and linux

[Paul Jakma]

> ----------
> From: 	John P. Looney[SMTP:jplooney at compapp.dcu.ie]
> Reply To: 	jplooney at compapp.dcu.ie
> Sent: 	15 June 1999 13:15
> To: 	Irish LUG list
> Subject: 	Re: [ILUG] handhelds/psion5 and linux
> 
> On Tue, Jun 15, 1999 at 01:09:21PM +0100, Paul Jakma mentioned:
> > Anyway, seems a linux handheld isn't practical at the moment, ah well.
> 
>  Nor should it be. There is no reason why you would want a handheld to run
> Linux, is there ? It's like wanting your bike to have a 1 litre engine -
> they are for different tasks. 
> 
linux is as suitable to run on a handheld as anything else, the kernel
anyway. A full unix enviroment might be a bit much, granted. But a minimal
linux enviroment would be nice. Basically I'd like to be able to run
(pine/insert your favourite open-source mail client) or whatever on my
handheld aswell as on my desktop. That's what it's about. If you use one
enviroment a lot on one system it's nice to be able to use it another.

That's one thing i really like about linux, it's a great equaliser of
hardware. ie It doesn't matter whether you're using an Apple Powermac,
Alpha, Netwinder, Sun Sparc or even an obscure intel, as long it runs linux
you have the same enviroment as on all the rest, and you can be straight at
home. No having to adjust between different way's of doing things, no
accidently hitting the key-combo you learnt from your favourite mail app,
when you're using acme mail-app on your handheld, etc. 

My biggest annoyance with computers is of having to work with different
programmes on different computers which both do the same thing. Eg i have to
use exchange at work. The ridiculousness of having a mail client, the most
generic of applications, forced upon me causes me great distress. :)

If at all possible i want to run the same enviroment on my server, my
workstation and my handheld. Then i don't have to waste time learning in
which way System X differs from System Y in doing the same thing.

don't care whether it's the latest and greatest Intel supersytem or the
tiniest ARM 7k handheld, i don't want to learn a different set of keystrokes
for the proprietary mail client supplied with the handheld. A generic OS
like linux is a good thing. The more things it runs on, the more choice i
have.

regards,

Paul.