Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 15:46:09 +0200 (CEST) From: Oliver Fromme <olli@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de> To: freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD for PalmPilot/Palm III Message-ID: <199806141346.PAA08380@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de>
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In list.freebsd-small you wrote (12 Jun 1998 00:13:14 +0200): > Is anyone on this list interested in FreeBSD for handheld computers, > notably > the PalmPilot and the Palm III? If so, I'd like to join the discussion, > and if not, > it would be interesting to create it. > > If you haven't noticed, there is a Linux development team for the Pilot. Apart from the facts that have already been mentioned (no PMMU etc.), I think that it is completely in appropriate to try to port a system like FreeBSD (or Linux) to a device like the PalmPilot. 3Com's PalmOS has been specifically developped for this device, and it's optimized to handle the Pilot's ressources (low memory and slow CPU) as efficiently as possible. There are thousands of programs out there, from small tools to full-featured applications, which run under PalmOS. Frankly, I don't see a single reason to put FreeBSD on that beast. Maybe except for the "coolness" of being able to say that it could be done. Another important point is the fact that a reasonable Pilot port of FreeBSD would take a long time to develop. The system would probably have to be written from scratch; I don't think that any significant parts of the kernel or userland could be ported as-is to the Pilot. It would be a completely new OS, not FreeBSD. Well, maybe a few enthusiasts sit down and present us "PalmBSD" in one year or something like that. But who would install it on his/her PalmPilot -- being slower than PalmOS, draining the batteries faster, occupying more of the valuable memory, and/or not being able to run PalmOS applications? What would the actual benefits be? > We could also go into versions for WindowsCE machines. I agree with Mike on this. They have a too short lifetime. It would be probably considerably easier to create a BSD for DEC's "Itsy" (or whatever it's called) -- it has more RAM and a stronger, VM-capable CPU. > [...] > Input libraries, and a number of hidden "features" that make hacking it > a bit > like hacking a Macintosh. Actually, a lot like hacking a Mac. I didn't buy my PalmPilot for the sake of hacking -- it's a (better) substitute for a fair amount of paper on my desktop and in my pocket (calendar, memo pad, address book etc.), it can calculate s/keys, and I can play a game when I have to wait somewhere for someone/something. | sed 's/\. /, IMHO. /g' ;-) Regards Oliver -- Oliver Fromme, Leibnizstr. 18-61, 38678 Clausthal, Germany (Info: finger userinfo:olli@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-small" in the body of the message
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