🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 20 Mar 1998 22:33:51 GMT, Will Ware <wware-nospam@world.std.com> wrote:
>: > In article <34f90bcf.23910830@news.wco.com>, me@SeeSigForRealAddress.com says:
>: > >I'd like to have a Linux box at home and have a handheld gateway
>: > >device, such as a PalmPilot, that could get me to a shell over the
>: > >net.
>
>I'm aware of two Linux PDA efforts. There's an outfit in the UK
>(the Silver Hammer Group, if memory serves) working on a Linux port
>for the Palm Pilot, and more generally for processors that don't have
>386-like memory management. I think the long-term goal is a Linux
>for embedded applications.

Note that as such this is not too likely to be the solution to the
problem at hand.  "Palm/Linux" is most likely to be useful for
embedding Linux inside systems where it would be nice to have a
palm-sized controller with:
a) Perhaps up to 6 buttons to play with, 
b) A serial port, 
c) Probably a half-meg of memory in which to run a control application,
and 
d) Not too much else.

Linux on the PalmPilot isn't likely to get you terribly far.

>The other thing, also a guy in the UK, is the TurboTortoise, described at
>http://www.mauve.demon.co.uk/tortoise.html
>I first came across this page six months or a year ago, and thought,
>oh boy, can't wait for this thing to be available. But the web page
>hasn't visibly changed since then, so I have no idea if there's any
>progress toward marketing the thing. Cool idea though.

I was dubious of the likelihood of it happening, and am not surprised
that it hasn't gone too far.  Ideas are one thing; actually bringing
computer hardware "to market" (whether commercially or as a one-off
private thing) is a tough task.

More useful options:
- There are available for the PalmPilot such things as an SSL Telnet
client.  If you've got a route via which you can PPP to the "home"
host, then this may be a solution...  Just hook a modem to the Pilot
and you're on your way

- Various PDAs have "terminal emulators" available.  

I've used a Psion 3 to dial up to a UNIX box using the software that
came with the "serial connector."

Similar options are no doubt available for other PDAs. 

A rather more expensive option would be to look at something like the
Toshiba Libretto.  It has enough memory and disk space that it can
realistically run a "fullscale" x86 Linux, and could still fit in a coat
pocket. 

-- 
"UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things,  because 
that would also stop you from doing clever things."       - Doug Gwyn
cbbrowne@hex.net -  <http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/lsf.html>