Running Linux On Acer's C100 Tablet PC

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 ;)

Re:What was wrong with it before?

[cscx]

Plus, linux doesn't come with the "ink" software, which makes this sorta pointless.

But what about?

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Ink integration into applications?
2) Handwriting recognition?
3) Documentation annotation?
4) Screen rotation?

If you're going to drop the cash on a tablet pc (over that of a laptop) don't you think that we need to come up with this stuff?

Maybe I'm optimistic...

[El Cubano]

That most manufacturers aren't leaping to provide Linux support on their tablet PCs doesn't mean it isn't possible ;)

When will manufacturers (not just tablet PCs, but hardware across the board) realize that supporting Linux will benefit them greatly? I mean, even the small steps that nVidia has taken has won the hearts of many a geek.

I guess they just don't realize it. Funny thing is, I have a friend who works for ATI and says that they use Linux workstations do big chunks of their development, but have never considered explicitly supporting their stuff on Linux. Maybe we should be more vocal as a community.

...and in related news...

[rjch]

Maybe I'm just not nerd enough, but just because you can run Linux on something, does that necessarily mean that you have to do it?

"Look ma! I've got the toaster running Linux!"

But what does that really acheive, apart from proving to the world that you need to get a life? We already know that Linux is a highly flexible operting system, but unless there's a concrete reason for running Linux on something, it's pointless really. I'm already waiting for the first person to announce that they've converted their internet fridge [cnet.com] to Linux.

Re:What was wrong with it before?

[Little Brother]

Hmm I think this is more of a statement that linux is catching up with Microsoft in another niche market, not saying that what he can't do with Microsoft he can do with linux. No, nothing is wrong with Microsoft on a tablet (for the sake of the argument) but look, I can do enough with linux too, let's keep working and we can make linux better, we sure can't do much to improve Microsoft (as we don't have the code)

Re:Maybe I'm optimistic...

[SkArcher]

It would be hard to imagine a group of people online who are more vocal than slashdot :)

It's just that it isn't, as a whole, yet seen as a priority by the business community to put all that effort into Linux work - and after all, Linux users can do the works themselves, yes?

Re:But what about?

[dcstimm]

thats the beauty of linux, WRITE THE SOFTWARE your self. Opensource it then you will be all set, plus if you look at the article they show that screen rotation works perfectly. ALso microsoft has been very lazy with the tablet and hasnt intergrated ink support into anything but Windows Journal.

Cool! How about handwriting recognition?

[PolR]

I like it! Nothing stops the Linux community!

Next step: is there a good free handwriting recognition software? I mean one that can work in two languages on the same system? The one bundled with Windows restricts you to one language.

I wanted to purchase a Tablet, but it is useless if it can't work both in my mother tongue and in English. There is an Internet here! You can't stick to one language unless you are born English.

Re:What was wrong with it before?

[ahaning]

You're questioning a hackers reasoning for doing something?

There generally doesn't need to be a reason. He had an itch and scratched it.

the pieces are there, M$ blows again.

[twitter]

Open Zaurus has handwriting recongition, though I like the keyboard. Qt/Embeded is GPL. The picture on the front page shows GIMP clearly taking input from the stylus, so it would not be too much to imagine the rest coming along quickly. Any nifty features ink has will come, unless they have patents.

The combination of X and ordinary free software on this platform blows away M$ offerings which restrict you to one user one computer one program, DOS days limits. Find and grep are powerful search tools and not that difficult to learn or use. KDE's embeded konsol has stylus buttons that make using the command line easy: shortcuts to history, enter and commands from a pull down menue that remembers your most common commands. Of course, for note taking, it would be much easier to simply record the conversation as ogg files and then use speach recognition to convert it, how's that for "intuitive"?. At 800 MHz, you should be able to do that, recoginize your hadwriting and serve it all out with apatche dynamically at the same time. Try that with eXPensive software.

Baby-Brother Syndrom

[maliabu]

I think the whole LOY [Linux On You!(tm)] thing is a bit pointless after a while. however i also reckon Linux is growing every day because it's showing the baby-brother syndrom, where the youngest sibling in the family always try to copy/emulate or even better what his elder siblings have done.

So if i see my elder brother has successfully installed Linux on XBox, i for sure want to install Linux on C100 with ink feature!

Where Do You Want Linux To Run Today?(tm)

Not the best idea. . .

[stevarooski]

Honestly, I'd love to see anyone try and ssh anywhere with just ink for input!

Having built Tablet PC apps, I can say that there are a number of reasons why the platform just ain't there yet, and a good number of these are because its really *really* hard to design an operating system that runs in an intuitive manner with nothing but ink input. As things stand now, you can't even log into XP TE with ink. . .you have to peck out a username and password. Same with saving documents and creating folders. I should note that updates to the platform are coming soon to address problems like these.

Anyways, its great to see alternatives for the tablet, but unless some serious dev effort is put into making Linux work with an entirely different input profile, I can't see it as real useful here.

Re:but...

[techturtle]

My $.02: Besides just the general coolness of being able to read e-docs like you would read the newspaper or a book, my biggest use for something like this would be for all of the meetings, requirement gathering sesions, reviews, etc. I have to attend.

Something I've wanted to do for a long time is have an application or set of apps to record audio from a meeting (this thing has a built in microphone) and have a handy note pad to hand write notes on at the same time (I'm talking pages and pages of notes, diagrams, etc.). Most of the PDAs I've tried are too small for my taste and are cumbersome when taking lots of notes or don't have enough memory for the amount of audio I'd like to record (maybe with external media?). My laptop doesn't have a microphone (easy to resolve though), but my biggest issues with taking a laptop to meetings is typing on it is kind of annoying for everybody and you always have the screen between you and people across a table from you.

Obviously this could be done with M$ OS and software. But, that's where the big coolness factor comes in. Add in the shear number of *nix tools that I normally use to do other things simultaniously while in meetings on my laptop and I think it'd rock! I think I just convinced myself to buy one! ;-)

Would VNC help?

[gylle]

I must admit I run XP on my laptop at home. Reading the discussion above, I see that the reasons for running windows on a tablet PC are even greater. However, I don't use many windows apps. I run a VNC viewer on my laptop, which gives me a full-screen linux desktop. When I need a windows app to control something on the local laptop or use a windows app, I just hit alt-tab. I now wonder how good this use of VNC would be at solving/working around the missing features in Linux.

• I guess I can rotate the screen, but I would probably have to restart vncviewer.
• On what level is the handwriting stuff? Can I write on the tablet and get the writing as keystrokes through VNC?
• [insert your issue from the discussion above here]?

Re:Thats not the "ink" software people want.

[passthecrackpipe]

As resellers to a corporate market, my organisation regularly attempts to demo the ink software on tablets. the demo's invariably fail to impress, with most users switching to the keyboard within five minutes. Many people and "anal-ysts" claim that price is keeping sales low, however, that is total bullocks. They are not selling because it doesn't do what it says on the tin: flawless handwriting recognition, and effortless computing. MS is selling this as the digital equivalent of a notepad - something that is totally flexible, and totally intuitive to use. instead, it is just a different form-factor PC, with all the limitations and hassles that come with it. And once it is a PC, it's just *gotta* have Linux on it!