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Hacker-friendly Linux PDA stack reviewed

linuxdevices.com — The OpenZaurus project aims to maintain an alternative, more developer-friendly Linux stack for Sharp's Linux-based Zaurus PDAs. It claims to be the only Zaurus distribution with a 2.6 kernel.

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  • sbovisjb1, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7Yes hes right, a kernel operates all the devices and runs the system commands, which is the file structure hardware and such. All the pretty desktops/or command line terminals (gentoo) that the user needs to run the environment, runs off the kernel. Think of the kernel as dirt. Its their and contains and supports life. Then people plant trees, grass have lakes and streams and Voilia its an environment. I hope that analogy helped.
    • ZaNkY, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16You may be "right", but if you notice dylanrogers has -4 diggs and bjweeks has +9 Diggs.

      I'm pretty sure the Digg community thinks bjweeks is the "RIGHT" one.
    • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Yea seriously... who cares. You don't see other important OSS projects demanding recognition this way. I respect what the GNU guys have done for the platform but the name game is over. It's LINUX.
    • n3rrd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I have to agree with the rest of the commenters. What the ***** does it matter? Recognition/status seems like a fairly selfish reason to work on something as helpful as OSS. Why work in Linux if you don't want it to be called Linux when they are done?

      It's Linux.
    • babbling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1For your information, GNU don't ask people to call it GNU/Linux because they want recognition or anything, it is because they want people to find out what Free Software is by reading about GNU.

      I guess they want people to read this:
      http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
  • tylerni7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This will be awesome for wardriving... and just about everything else. I am so getting one...
  • SeaOtter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I always thought the Zauruses (Zauri?) were under-appreciated. I've seen a few (and even got to play with them), and a proper OS like linux is exactly what they need. I really wish these things had taken off more.
  • joeyrutledge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1wow that's pretty cool. i sold my zaurus a couple of months on ebay. i couldn't find anything about the 2.6 kernels and the 5x00 zaurus. Anyone know if the 2.6 kernel is on the 5x00 series with this new release?
    • joeyrutledge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2nevermind.....macemoneta answered my question.
  • macemoneta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I have a Zaurus PDA running OpenZaurus. I just wanted to note that the SL-5000 and SL-5500 models still run the 2.4 kernel, because of the proprietary and closed source SD card slots that these models have (thanks, Sharp).

    Even so, OZ on a PDA is incredible; it is, for all practical purposes, functionally equivalent to a notebook. After years of using PalmOS PDAs, it's really weird when you can SSH into your PDA or rsync your data. Even FreeDoom runs great on it!

    The OZ team deserves a medal for their achievements!
    • terinjokes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hackndev.com
    • llornkcor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's not Sharp's fault about proprietary Secure Digital Association not allowing Sharp to release the SD driver.
    • hobbified, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@llornkcor: The point is that open-source SD drivers _are_ available for the PXA chips, while they _aren't_ available for the SA1100-based machines. The blame for this belongs to some combination of the SD Association, Sharp, Intel, and Lineo. In fact, the newer "clamshell" Zaurus machines use more open-source-friendly hardware all around, which is why they're able to run a 2.6 kernel with a relatively limited set of patches against mainline, while the collie, poodle, and tosa are limited to a heavily hacked "embedix" fork of Linux 2.4 (itself derived from the non-Linus "rmk" tree for ARM devices).

      The unfortunate upshot of all this is that the only devices that were ever actually sold at retail outside of Japan are quickly being left behind in terms of software support. I got my akita for an excellent price from an importer, and I've been running the Openzaurus 3.5.4.1-rc releases on it. The system really is excellent.
  • msprout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I had a Sharp Zaurus PDA running OpenZaurus, and the SL-5500 is still one of my favorite handhelds of all time, and then some. I've used Windows CE, Windows Mobile and Opie, and I've gotta say, I got a lot of great memories out of that little machine.

    If you need a PDA, it's not so elegant - but it sure is neat!
    • splitbrain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I was a long time Palm user, then switched to the SL-5500 running OpenZaurus. The Zaurus has a really nice hardware but to be honest I never got warm with it. I cannot point my finger on it but I rarely used my Zaurus. I finally went back to a Palm E2. Sure it isn't as powerful as the Zaurus, it doesn't run Linux but it does the things a PDA should do incredibly good, fast and reliable. I love the openess and flexibility of Linux (it's my desktop OS of choice) but it did not work for me on a PDA.
  • mattwestm, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1What does this PDA have to do with hacking?
  • SYSDmg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3this is pretty old news, the zaurus has been around for a really long time. and it has always had a linux based os on it...and its always been "hackable" if you really want to call it hackable...more like modifyable
    • mutant, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Old news? It's July 7, and there is a new release.. It's new news about an old project..
  • Mudhoney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I still have a Sharp Zaurus 5500, with open zaurus. It's like a full laptop in capabilities when you use a WiFi CF card. The Open Zaurus project has done a great job over the years.
    • kodek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I have one, too. It's really fun to use, but it's useless when you're actually trying to use it as a PDA :)
    • analogAI, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I still have the SL-5500 from years ago. It's true if you want something that "just works" as a PDA, this is not for you. Otherwise you can spend days learning about linux while messing around with it. There are plenty of used ones on eBay if you don't have one already.
  • jsaya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Mobile Mischievousness... :D
  • inpherno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just a note: OpenZaurus is NOT the only Zaurus distro with a 2.6 kernel. I run pdaXrom, which has 2.6 kernel and runs the X11 server. A good majority of desktop-linux apps work great on it. OpenZaurus is cleaner and more stable, but I prefer pdaxrom because I like to use it as a mini-laptop.
    • Hellmark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you use GPE under OZ (instead of Opie), an X11 server is also used.
    • benplaut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i disagree...
      after several months of using both, pdaXrom is _definately_ more stable than OpenZaurus. Along with that, it's got a higher level community (more devs, people willing to get their hands dirty), and is more flexible, not being tied to gpe.

      For any ROM, take a look at oesf.org, expecially their forum.
  • Hellmark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2As a long time user of OpenZaurus, I have to say, news like this hitting mainstream is good. Helps to let other Zaurus users know of something better to replace the stock ROM with, plus also lets people in the PDA market know that Windows Mobile or PalmOS isnt the only choices
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