Ukrainian hackers don't wait for Palm's Linux

WHILE CUSTOMERS await the Linux based offerings from Palm Inc and Access/PalmSource, near two dozen "programmers and techies have taken matters into their own hands.

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about Palm OS PDAs and devices running Linux, but it seems it's not only possible, but that these talented coders have been doing so for quite a while. While the early attempts started a few years ago, with a determined geek porting the micro embedded-Linux "uCLinux" to the early Sony Clie PDAs, these efforts had a short life. But now, with the availability of more powerful devices like the Palm TX sporting high-res screens, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the idea of running Linux on them is much more attractive.

Of course, some would say "why bother?" specially with the availability of "turnkey" Linux based offerings like the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. But what these developments offer is the possibility of using a single device with either the original Palm OS or Linux, for "non-PDA" purposes, if you so wish.

Enter Hack-&-Dev, a developers' community web site registered by Vladimir Pouzanov in Kiev, Ukraine. It's on this site where lots of development for bringing Linux to Palm OS devices like the TX PDA or the LifeDrive has been happening lately. Techies and power users on Palm OS related forums have received these developments with a mix of amazement and skepticism - some judge that Linux still can't beat the simplicity and ease of use of Palm OS - or as Access wants us to call it now, Garnet OS-. Others applaud these developments as the best thing since sliced bread.

If you want to have a look at what busy hackers are doing with Palm's devices, look no further than the one of the many developers' blogs. One thing is for certain... the Konqueror web browser certainly seems to beat any of the current Palm OS Garnet OS browser implementations.

In the last few weeks, new builds of Linux for the LifeDrive and the "Cocoboot" loader were released, with the "Technology Preview" release dated July 17 finally including an IRDA (IR) applet, Bluetooth support, and "CpuFreq" for downscaling or overclocking CPU speed from 104MHz to 624MHz.Wi-Fi and USB2 drivers are still in the "to do" list, but some other areas are already advanced, like the addition of XMMS-embedded for listening to MP3 music, an eBooks reader, file manager and PDF viewer. Is this fully functional and a replacement for the preloaded OS? Of course not. But it's nonetheless a proof of the power of the Open Sauce approach.

The key of these developments is the "Cocoboot" loader, a Palm OS boot/loader application which, when started, proceeds to kick out Palm OS and boot Linux from the external SD card. Also critical to these efforts were the "Opie" (Open Palmtop Integrated Environment) project and the Angstrom distro. You can see what Opie looks like, here running on a Palm.

Unfortunately I don't have a current Palm OS PDA or Treo to test this, but judging by some of the techies' reactions, this is good stuff. In any case, and despite the "Linux vs Palm OS" heated debate, if you are a power user who likes to try new software, and you own a LifeDrive, Palm TX, a Treo 650 smartphone, a Tungsten or Zire 72 and you have not discovered the Hack&Dev open source community, I suggest you head over to the web site and see what they have done so far.

The real question after seeing all this, is: how much time would have Palm and Access saved if Garnet OS and ALP had been open sourced a long, long time ago?. Open Source doesn't have to mean "zero income". They could -and can, if they ever decide to go Open- make money by selling their support and custom development services for system integrators, mobile operators, and even selling packaged versions / upgrades of the software to smartphone/PDA users (not everyone is a geek). Companies like Red Hat and Sun Microsystems -among others- have already proved that you can make money even while making your "crown jewels" open source. µ

L'INQs
Download Linux for Palm TX

Linux4Palm section at Hack&Dev site
PalmLinux.cz (Czech)
Linux on Palm Tungsten E
Palm delays Linux smartphone

See also
Open Source, the only weapon against Planned Obsolescence
Nokia's affordable Linux based UMPC killer
PalmOS isn't dead, it's just going Linux