Linux on the Treo 650
This person has Linux booting on his Treo. That was just about the most exciting nerd news for me this week. From my last post, I think I prefer the Treo form factor over the Wizard’s form factor. Of course, the biggest problem with the Treo is the weak OS.
Linux solves many of the deficiencies found in PalmOS: multitasking, memory protection, an open driver API, etc. But Linux would have its own weaknesses like .. err.. the same one it has on the desktop, a slightly sub-par GUI. People were talking about using Opie (which I believe is/was used by the Sharp devices). I’m not a big fan of KDE on the desktop, so that’s probably not going to happen. Luckily, there is a GTK+ based competitor: GPE. I understand how cool KDE is technically, but the aesthetics and visual design just completely grate on me. Sorry.
But anyways, maybe I’ll be able to find a used Treo 650 on Ebay for cheap once the 700w’s come out. I really don’t need another phone, but the potential of the 650 hardware plus Linux is pretty tempting.