Are you geek enough? I bet not!

[Colin Dunstan]

Did you ever wonder if you were geek enough? Let's make the comparison to this London guy.

This is what he is carrying around on a daily basis:
- HP iPAQ 4150
- Socket bluetooth GPS
- iPaq mini keyboard
- Zip-Linq iPaq sync/charge cable
- Canon PowerShot S400
- iPod 3G 40Gb
- Etymotic ER6 Isolator headphones
- iTrip FM Audio Transmitter
- TuneCast FM Transmitter (hacked)
- WiFi Seeker
- LED Flashlight
- Sony Ericsson T610
- Jabra BT200
- Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP (and games)
- Pocket battery pack
- Leatherman micra
- RSA SecurID
- Shades
- Lighters
- Chapstick/Nicotine inhaler
- Handy wipes!
- Wallet
- Trusty pen
- GBA headphone adaptor, batteries
- ...

With all that stuff in his pockets, it's a wonder that he doesn't fall over.

[cbarnett]

He wouldn't want to get caught in a rain storm!!!

Craig.

[cheshire]

Actually, I really wonder how much his jacket weighs.

I would pay to see the expression as the waiter takes his coat off in a restaurant.

[TadW]

Originally Posted by cbarnett

He wouldn't want to get caught in a rain storm!!!

Most unlikely - in London

[Zire]

Wow he's a gadget fiend...

[Chaos]

Ahh, posted on linuxbrit.co.uk, and he has a Windows Pocket PC? Nooooooo...

Ah, sorry for the outburst. I'm totally against Windows in every way. Linux and OSX all the way for me...

But yeh, that'd be heavy. The batteries especially. Gadgets can be worn easily, but batteries are SO dense... Probably over a quarter of my PowerBook's weight is the battery...

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by Chaos

Ah, sorry for the outburst. I'm totally against Windows in every way. Linux and OSX all the way for me...

... and OSX today is more *nix than ever before

Chaos, what do you think about the new Zaurus announced to be released soon? Do you have any more info on it?

[Chaos]

Originally Posted by Alexander

... and OSX today is more *nix than ever before

Chaos, what do you think about the new Zaurus announced to be released soon? Do you have any more info on it?

Yes, that's one of the reasons I like OSX so much. BSD base, nice GUI overtop. I've been using Linux for years (over 5 years now, since I was around 10 - yes, I'm only 15, but don't discount my abilities or knowledge because of age), so I'm very at home on a command line (side story: I once used only a command line for a week, as a sort of challenge for myself. Lynx for web, mutt for mail, BitchX for IRC, emacs for text... I even had DVDs playing in that time using mplayer and the Linux kernel's framebuffer. It was pretty awesome.).

But of course, using OSX, one rarely needs to hit the terminal. I still do, for SSHing into my other boxes, and a few other things, but having the nice GUI is awesome. One of the things that comes to mind about OSX is spell-checking in almost everything, if you turn it on. Like this post, spell-checked (on the fly) by OSX. Oh, spell-checking isn't actually one word (it's underlined by a dotted red line, indicating error in spelling). Very nice stuff.


As far as I know, there's no confirmed details on any new Zauri (the generally accepted plural of Zaurus). There have been a few rumours, but nothing really substantial.

Personal guess....
It'll be a clamshell, like the other C-series. Probably will have some form of built-in Wifi. Japanese only (as Sharp has pulled out of the US market for the Zauri). Of course people will import them like stink. :P Possibly an updated processor, maybe more around 600 Mhz (I believe the new Dell Axim uses a 600 and something ARM processor? Possibly the same one.). Of course it'll have the usual compact flash and SD/MMC slots, and probably the nice VGA 640x480 screen.

I've never actually played with a clamshell Zaurus (I own one of the "standard" ones, the 5600), but from the pictures I've seen, reviews I've read, and comments I've read, they're nice. And very popular in Japan.


(Sorry if this post seems long-winded and awkward in some places. I'm tired and just about to go to sleep, so I can't think entirely straight.)

[TadW]

Sniff. Why does everyone leave the US market? Sony, Toshiba, Sharp....

[Francesco]

Hey, Chaos!
What is a clamshell Zaurus?
EDIT:
This is a clamshell Zaurus:

[Chaos]

Originally Posted by Francesco

Hey, Chaos!
What is a clamshell Zaurus?
EDIT:
This is a clamshell Zaurus:

Yup, that's it! The screen twists around and locks back down for a more classical PDA format. From what I've read, all who use it love it. Well, I mostly read the opinions of geeks, so it's a little biased towards a Linux based laptop-replacement (basically - there's one ROM image that runs full X11 - other ROM images have more traditional PDA software).

[Francesco]

Chaos, I have lots of questions for you.
What OS does this PDA have? Linux? A PDA version? Modified or just trimmed down? What programs does it run? PalmOS apps, by chance? Linux apps? OS X apps?!!!
Maybe some of these questions are answered by what you said:
"basically - there's one ROM image that runs full X11 - other ROM images have more traditional PDA software", but it happens that I don't fully understand.
What is a ROM image? Is it what you have installed in a ROM?
Can you play freely with the ROM of a Zaurus (unlike those of us who have a Palm)?
Does "More traditional software" mean PalmOS applications?
X11, as I understand, is the graphical interface between *nix OSs and the user. Is that so? If it is, then what is below those ROM images running "full X11"?
Sorry, lots of questions, but I think they're the kind you like.
Thank you.

[Chaos]

Originally Posted by Francesco

Chaos, I have lots of questions for you.
What OS does this PDA have? Linux? A PDA version? Modified or just trimmed down?

Somewhat trimmed down. Linux on this sort of device is often referred to as Embedded Linux. The default ROMs on all the Zaurus devices use Qtopia, a form of embedded QT, which KDE based upon. Some other ROMs (like OpenZaurus), use other types of software, like OPIE (similar to Qtopia, and is in fact an open source fork of the project), or GPE (embedded, GTK2 based environment). The full X11 ROM (called pdaXrom) only runs on the C700, C750, C760, and C860 currently, and is said to be nice for anything except some of the more standard PDA functions (calendar, etc.). You can run almost any Linux software under this ROM, if you compile it (from source).

Originally Posted by Francesco

What programs does it run? PalmOS apps, by chance? Linux apps? OS X apps?!!!

By default, under the Qtopia and OPIE environments, the Zaurus only runs console programs and specially designed for embedded QT. Under GPE, it runs GTK2 based X11 applications, and again console programs. Also some special stuff created by the GPE team, like standard PDA-type apps (calendar, address book, etc.). The full X11 ROM will run almost any applications full Linux will, except they have to be open source (so you can compile them for the ARM processor), and they have to be fast enough to run on the Zaurus' less RAM and slower (and somewhat less capable) processor.

Originally Posted by Francesco

Maybe some of these questions are answered by what you said:
"basically - there's one ROM image that runs full X11 - other ROM images have more traditional PDA software", but it happens that I don't fully understand.
What is a ROM image? Is it what you have installed in a ROM?

The ROM image is the basic operating system and pre-installed programs. There are many different ones for all different Zaurus models. Most of the ones for the 5000/5500/5600/6000 are either Qtopia or Opie based. Some are GPE based. The C700/C750/C760/C860 have Qtopia based, Opie based, GPE based, and a full X11 (X Window System) ROM.

Originally Posted by Francesco

Can you play freely with the ROM of a Zaurus (unlike those of us who have a Palm)?

If you know what you're doing (have Linux experience and knowledge), and have the right stuff installed on your computer (MUST be Linux - something like FreeBSD may also work though), then yes. You can play with the applications. You cannot re-compile everything though. Some of the stuff that comes with the Zaurus is closed-source. Of course you could go play with OpenEmbedded or something else that is fully open source.

Originally Posted by Francesco

Does "More traditional software" mean PalmOS applications?

More traditional software meant standard PDA type stuff. Calendar, Address Book, Todo List, E-mail, etc...

Originally Posted by Francesco

X11, as I understand, is the graphical interface between *nix OSs and the user. Is that so? If it is, then what is below those ROM images running "full X11"?

Yes, X11 is the most common graphical interface on *nixes. Mac OS X is the exception (although you can run X11 over-top of Aqua, with nice integration). pdaXrom, the ROM that runs the full X11, has a very similar base to the rest of the Zaurus ROMs. It's just Embedded Linux, with a different interface.

Originally Posted by Francesco

Sorry, lots of questions, but I think they're the kind you like.
Thank you.

No problem, I love educating anyone on Linux.