What could i do with linux?


midget

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May 28, 2003
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I hate to sound stupid but,
When linux comes to the gp32 what will we be able to do with it??
Thanks
Midget
 
midget posted on Oct 11 2003 at 04:31 PM said:
I hate to sound stupid but,
When linux comes to the gp32 what will we be able to do with it??
Thanks
Midget
Think if windows was ported to the GP32. Essencially the same thing. You can run linux applications, as long as they are under 4 megs.
 
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hmm play moonbuggy :)
hmm perhaps its possible with a small Windowmanager, than you could have small games on it, run programs like browser, texteditor. etc perhaps listen to mp3s (dont know if linux can work with the gp32 sound) the same you could do on a 133Mhz Windows PC without a good grafikkart.
 
Cooljerk posted on Oct 11 2003 at 11:21 AM said:
midget posted on Oct 11 2003 at 04:31 PM said:
I hate to sound stupid but,
When linux comes to the gp32 what will we be able to do with it??
Thanks
Midget
Think if windows was ported to the GP32. Essencially the same thing. You can run linux applications, as long as they are under 4 megs.
What are some good linux applications?
 
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Why does everybody care about linux? It sounds like a lame application for gp32 to me. What, you guys only care about 'being different' because you now have linux on a handheld? woopdie frikkin doo.
 
There really is not any useful apps I can think of to use on a handheld, you aint guna be running good stuff like Gimp, and web browsers and KDE Office, or KDE for that matter will not run on that little memory, and even if they did the screen res would make them no use, I would guess this is only being port as a "to prove I can" sort of thing, and thats cool, but I can't see anything useful for it, maybe if you could set your GP32 on your network (if you are sad enough to have one at home (like me)) using the USB, now that could be funny, you could SSH into your GP32, or even host a website on it :)

Rock On
 
Opera web browser should work with 4meg fine, like someone said, getting linux to run is like being able to run WindowsXP on the GP32. Certainly opens some pretty cool doors.

-Craig

www.gbax.com
 
Plenty could be done with Linux on GP32.

In it's most basic form, you could use it to manage data on the SMC, removing the need for a program like COMI. You could edit and read text files with it, you could possibly connect to an FTP server (via serial cable) and download programs without the PC Link software.

If the wireless multiplayer adaptor can be accessed, there could be even more functions added. It may be possible to connect to a BlueTooth enabled home network to transfer files, play MP3's stored on a centeral computer, analyze network traffic, etc.

If Linux could be ported, without loosing too much functionality, it could easily revitalize the entire GP32 scene. It would be, without a doubt, the single most important development on the GP32 to date.

As for the question of "why try and port it", the same could be said for anything. Why emulate the NES? Why make a DOOM port? Questions like that would have us all still playing "DyHard".

A big part of the Linux community has been simply seeing what is can be ported to. That's why there is a watch that runs Linux...
 
I can understand your point of view Midget, but when you see stuff like websites being hosted on an Apple Newton or an x-box etc you just wanna do i too. :p

There seems to be something very cool about using stuff to do things that it wasn't necessarily made to do in the first place.

From a realistic point of view, however, linux (especially with a QT or miniGUI interface) can mean the difference between the gp32 being a 'games handheld that u can do cool stuff with' to being a 'mini computer that you can play games on AND do heaps of cool stuff with'...

Of course all this is correct but the real reason i would want to see this done is just so i can say "SEE WHAT I DID..." :D

Cheers,

Ben
 
Even an iPod can run Linux... there is a certain element of fun in getting it to run on something even if it's totally useless.

However, Linux would give us the all-important allowance of multi-tasking. Using a VERY lightweight window manager etc. - although Qt is nice :) - you could play MP3s whilst reading an ebook or run a nes emulator and close it and run something else. File associations would be implemented, I'd expect, so you can just select a rom to start the relevant emu. Plus the kernel could be hacked to handle errors nicely with lots of debug info. Finally, lots of small Linux apps would then be even easier to port.

- Rico
 
I think it would be nice if a linux firmware with a file manager would be created...
As Rico said, Linux has the power of multitasking... imagine that in a firmware!
 
How could you think that everything we just said was pointless?

How is it any more pointless than emulating a 20 year old computer system to play space invaders?
 
Don't expect GPlinux to run Opera 7 or something but older versions of Opera should work

Linux is a real OS with multi tasking and other stuff i don't think it's a good idea to run a nes emulator while listing to MP3's but reading a eBook while listing to mp3's could be useful. If the're a way to free memory (e.g unload linux) we could start GP games/emulator/etc. from a start menu or a desktop.
Maybe we can even have File associations that unload the linux core and load the emu + rom in the memory.

The Bios/firmware is loaded in a different part of memory (if i'm right) so it would be c00l to have the Linux core (only the core and maybe some drivers) in the firmware. With a lot of tweaking it must be possible to have GPlinux use only 2 mb of memory and that would allow us to load 6 mb big linux games/programma's.

Besides that the're loads of linux devlopment tools aviable.
 
Maybe, allthough a full desktop installation of Linux is hard enough to get networked with Window's PCs.

I don't know if there would be enough memory to run Samba on the GP32 and still remain usefull...
 
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