Warming up to the idea that an open palm is better than a clenched one, major computing companies are exploring the idea of porting open-source operating systems to their handheld computing platforms.
Compaq Computer this week began making available a port of Linux for the company's iPaq handheld devices. At the same time, it is hosting a Web site, www.handhelds.org, dedicated to the development of any open-source platform for handhelds.
The initiative is born out of a 4-year-old Digital Equipment project -- "Itsy" -- in which Digital experimented with Linux on a handheld. Compaq decided to dust off the cobwebs and update the Itsy project with the iPaq. The iPaq runs on the Intel StrongArm processor, which supports Linux. And while the device comes native with the operating system in Microsoft's Pocket PC, the OS lies in Flash memory, not in the ROM. This makes it relatively easy to replace Pocket PC with Linux. Compaq is providing the tools to remove the Microsoft platform and replace it with X Window System.
Hewlett-Packard is also seriously considering Linux for its Jornada devices, which currently support only Microsoft platforms. HP likes Linux because it handles multimedia applications well, company officials say; and the fact that the operating system is free means a lower price for the device. The company likely will have a device that runs on Linux next year, according to officials.
Linux vs. Palm OS
Critics have questioned why companies would choose to support Linux on handhelds over the Palm operating system, which is the most popular among users and already has a very organised development community. If these companies are already going to risk annoying Microsoft by supporting another handheld platform, why not support Palm?
"It would be one thing just to let people mess around with Linux, but they've created a whole open handheld group, which seems like a platform group in disguise, which will compete with Microsoft," said Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Group. "They should have just picked Palm and put it in the iPaq. Palm's got developers, Palm's got support. ... Linux has no master, and you need one with handhelds."
But manufacturers say that the lack of a master is exactly the reason to give Linux a shot.
"Palm, from a business standpoint, is just like Microsoft," said Boris Elisman, worldwide marketing manager for HP's information appliances and services organisation. "They control the OS and make the OS for devices at the lowest common denominator. Linux gives you the flexibility to customise the environment, which is very attractive."
Running Linux on handheld devices is not a new concept. There have been a few devices on the market that run Linux in the background, and a visit to a Linux Uenet site will find diehard techies bragging about rebuilding a Palm device to run Linux. But support from a company as large as Compaq, plus users' ability to just add Linux to the Flash memory, is encouraging to fans of the operating system.
"Probably every Linux geek on the planet would fork out a few hundred dollars for (an iPaq)" said Steve Durst, a computer security consultant and Linux enthusiast. "Just so you could whip it out on an airplane and say, 'I've got X Windows running on this.' "
Compaq officials said that, so far, the initiative offers a way for developers to play around with Linux to see if anyone comes up with some hot applications.
"What we have right here is really raw OS kernel," said Dick Greeley, program manager for Compaq's Open Handheld Program.
But the company will pay attention to what developers create, he said. A Compaq handheld based on Linux is not out of the question.
