FBReader running on the XO-1

[Nate the great]

Teleread says that FBReader can be installed on the XO-1:
http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/12...er-child-kids/

I'd love to hear how well it works.

[davidrothman]

Hi, Nate. The word from Todd Bennett, who did try it, is that FBReader works great on the XO. Just keep in mind that FBReader still requires you to run it on the XO from the terminal mode. Let's hope that some eager volunteers can Sugarize it to the max!

There's a delay you notice between page changes, but not an irritating one, according to Bennett. So if people are looking for a reflective screen without the delay of E Ink, then the XO/FBReader combo could be a possibility. My XO has yet to arrive even though I was a first-day donor, and I haven't seen FBReader myself on the XO. Would that I be able to try FBReader now!

To address one general XO issue, in case it's of interest, the contrast is ample in bright light in the reflective mode, but not as good as Vizplex's. Res of course is superb in the reflective mode and at least adequate in the backlit mode.

Deadline for Give One Get One (laptopgiving.org) is Dec. 31. Just be prepared for delays in receiving the XO.

HTH,
David

http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/12...er-child-kids/

[wallcraft]

The OLPC project seems to be making the same mistake that Pepper Computer did with the Pepper Pad. They both designed complete environments on top of a standard Linux/X11 base, and both made interfacing to the thousands of existing Linux/X11 applications difficult.

In Pepper's case it essentially killed the company, because the customer base for its closed environment (home entertainment) was not there at its price point. If they had made interfacing to existing apps easier, then its customer base would have included enthusiasts in various areas looking for a simple inexpensive portable machine to run their programs. This might not have been enough to save the company, but it would have helped. Note that Pepper Computer has not actually closed down, but they are unlikely to produce any new products.

I don't think it is as serious for OLPC, partly because the barriers to using existing apps is lower and partly because developer interest is higher. What OLPC needs is a way to simply integrate existing apps into their framework. Even a user-extendable (or freedesktop conforming) menu of non-Sugar apps selectable within Sugar would be a start.

[davidrothman]

Totally agree with you about the need for the XO to use a more open approach, Alan! Meanwhile let us know if you run across a promising Fedora version of FBReader for the XO (one with .epub capabilities). The original link no longer seems to be working. - David

[wallcraft]

I suggest trying the PepperPad version, from the Download page. I have not even tested this on my PP3 yet, but if this works under Fedora Core 4 it should also work under Fedora 7 (as on the XO-1). Rather than downloading it separately, you may just be able to put the web location of the rpm file:

http://www.fbreader.org/pepperpad/fb...8.8-1.i386.rpm

into your existing rpm command directly.

[wallcraft]

There is also a fc7 version on repoview. Or again just use the web location of the rpm file:

http://fedora.linuxdiinf.org/repo/up...2.fc7.i386.rpm

.