Running Linux On Acer's C100 Tablet PC 249
Christopher Coulter writes submitted a link to this detailed guide to putting Debian GNU/Linux on an Acer Tablet PC. That most manufacturers aren't leaping to provide Linux support on their tablet PCs doesn't mean it isn't possible ;)
Easier & Safer NTFS resize !! (Score:2, Informative)
I don't know why he went to all that trouble
Re:handwriting recognition? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Info on Portege 3500? (Score:1, Informative)
(second result in a google search for wacom linux)
Re:Congratulations! Next Steps... (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. In fact, a lot of software already exists. X11 has been used for more than a decade with tablets (Wacom, etc.), so all the pen input and character recognizer support is there. Furthermore, Gtk+ and a few other toolkits have low-level support for pen input.
In addition, the Linux-based handhelds already use pen input, so there is experience with, and support for, Linux and X11-based pen-based applications, although those are, of course, for small-screen devices.
For instance, the Journal is super cool. It lets you make notes in ink (or by text), it can translate, etc. Most importantly, you can
I have tried using Journal for taking notes. It makes for a slick demo, but ultimately, I find a keyboard (even a one-handed keyboard) more efficient. Note that few of the features in Journal are novel--similar software has been around for decades.
Note: the Ink interface is
You should tell that to Microsoft: most of the software running on Tablet PC has been very poorly adapted to a pen interface and feels like it's been written for a mouse.
Re:addendum (Score:5, Informative)
Sure you can. You can use Webmin for a web-based GUI, and it lets you administer pretty much everything on a Debian system. As an added bonus, it works pretty much the same way with several other Linux and UNIX flavors.
(There are a number of other GUI-based configuration tools for Linux as well.)
Re:What was wrong with it before? (Score:2, Informative)
umm, check out gsumi [gtk.org].
Anyway, he had an itch and he scratched it. besides, although XP looks to be more workable practically and although some things can be easier to do in XP in terms of number of steps, etc, I know from experience that windows interfaces always irritate me. they just do. waaaaay too limiting.
Re:But what about? (Score:1, Informative)
however, if you read the webpage, you may just have seen that he had handwriting recognition and screen rotation working.
Re:but... (Score:3, Informative)
However, if you can't think of a good use for one, YOU DON'T NEED IT!
I saw some guy this weekend at best buy picking one up who said "Well, its supposed to be the cool new thing. It will probably just sit in my desk at the office while I play golf."
Re:too bad you can't get any real HWR for Linux... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Hitachi Linux-based Tablet (Score:3, Informative)
Thats not the "ink" software people want. (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/d
It doesn't take single line drawings and translate them into letters, it takes written words (in my crappy hand writing) and translates it.
There is also a version for the TabletPC.
This is the single biggest advantage that MS has over Linux in PDAs and tablets.
Re:Maybe I'm optimistic... (Score:4, Informative)
ATI, besides supporting Linux with their proprietary drivers, also releases hardware documentation, and there are open source drivers for their cards as a result.
Now go take that nvidia card back to the store, and let your wallet talk to the right company...
There's also a mailing list (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Congratulations! Next Steps... (Score:3, Informative)
That's exactly what I said. X11 has support for pen input, so you can build whatever recognizer you like. And there are several character recognizers available already, but no good word-level recognizers.
And to alot of people who are used to writing notes with a pen and paper, its a big difference.
It would be if Tablet PC's word-level recognizer and ink support was actually usable. It isn't. It's basically junk. Maybe they'll get it right in another couple of releases, but by then, you'll probably see good Linux alternatives already.
Until then, Linux and Tablet PC are about equal when it comes to ink: character-at-a-time and on-screen keyboard input is the only stuff that really works for entering text.
Re:too bad you can't get any real HWR for Tablet P (Score:5, Informative)
I've used a PC with CalliGrapher/PenOffice on it and it worked pretty well. Naturally, nothing as nice as the integration that you get with an OS designed with the pen in mind from the start, but still.
Yo're not reduced to that on the tabletPC- no reason you cannot install PenOffice. I agree that you can get soft-kbs and stroke recognition on Linux that are as good as anything like that will get.
I think the lack of real HWR for Linux goes beyond just there not being many tablets. I think there is a deeper issue, although the lack of tablet-x86-ish hardware is a factor. From my discussions on a number of forums and irc channels, it seems that most Linux developers and users don't think there is any value in connected handwriting recognition. They often think that there is no psychological difference between writing a *word* just as you'd write it on paper and having the system be intelligent enough to translate that into plain-old text and picking apart each word you want to input into letters, seperating it all into the strokes which match up with them.
I am not saying there will never be real HWR for Linux, but it is likely a long way off. For one, as I mused about above, too many Linux users and developers think that real HWR is a good for nothing "Eat Up Martha." Second, real HWR that is accurate, consistent, and fast enough on semi-modern hardware isn't the easiest thing to code. It's the kind of thing people do real research on, spending a lot of man-hours developing. Not to say that kind of work isn't or hasn't been done in the OSS community- it certainly has. It just seems to be a level beyond the majority of OSS projects. Granted, a good HWR system is a level beyond most software projects in general... I hope I'm proven wrong! It may take a number of years, but I'd love to be able to have my handwriting recognizer be open source.
Ink software is something I think will come even slower. Sure, folks will probably hack something on ala Microsoft, but creating a good Ink/Text system will require the rewrite of GUI toolkits. Who knows? Perhaps we'll see a new GUI or X11 toolkit integrate this at the ground floor, and take over within a few short years...
Re:wonderful (Score:3, Informative)
Toshiba Portege 3500, too (Score:2, Informative)
Why not Wine? (Score:2, Informative)
I'd imagine the tablet functionality is just a central library or two and could be wine'd to work with the linux tablet drivers which have been around for a while. The writing recognition app/keyboard would be the most important piece and why shouldn't it be able to return input to linux apps just like it does for Windows?
It'd no longer be pure linux but if you can run your personal favorite WM and use all your POSIX apps, whats the difference?
Can anyone knowledgable comment?
Re:Maybe I'm optimistic... (Score:1, Informative)
Oh really, so where can I download them? I can't without signing an NDA? What good is it then?
The opensource ATI drivers suck (buggy and lacks alot of features) beacuse the specs aren't publicaly available.