Re: [tlug] Linux Zaurus is very cool

[Joseph Essertier <essertier@example.com>]

Al Hoang wrote:

Now if you're inquiring 
    specifically on the 3200 and alternate distributions.  Congratulations
    on becoming the HOWTO maintainer for that ;)
  

Joe:
Ha! Ha!  Because there's not a lot out there yet specifically for the 3200, right?  From what Hiroshi said, the info on the 3100 will help me a lot though.

1b.  The process for dual-boot looks complicated and annoying if you're not
     already familiar with the process of flashing your Zaurus to the point
     that is as natural as flushing the toilet.

Definitely not.  My 2-year experience with GNU/Linux has been only with easy-to-install distributions.

   I've found KO/PI your best bet if you want share data back and forth 
   without having a Sunday hacking project to work on.
  

KO/Pi sounds really good.

   And remember, beneath all that gloss it's a Linux box.  You could just
   dump a textfile of important data and scp that back and forth :)
   Secure and (sorta) robust syncing on the cheap!
  

By the way, the IntelliSync program works fine now.  I noticed that not all the instructions were on the CD.  (At least, I couldn't find them all).  Part of them are in the 15 or so pages quick-start guide.  Once I followed the instructions there, it worked right away.  Then some other documentation is automatically copied onto the hard drive, which also have a quick-start section, but those look like general instructions for various models, and they're quite different from the ones that you access on the CD.  What a confusing way to set up their documentation!  They should have one complete set of instructions in digital format on the CD and a subset of those in the main manual.  It didn't help that it was all in Japanese (and maybe I'm missing something), but...

Also, by the way, does anyone have a copy of the manual in English that I can buy, borrow, or steal?  I downloaded for free a version of the quick-start guide (which didn't tell me how to set up IntelliSync, presumably because it doesn't work with the English version of Windows), but I would imagine the company that translated the manual is not passing them out to people who didn't buy the Zaurus from them.

	I'm not sure I said that exactly.  I think you're extrapolating.
  

Yes, I was.  Didn't mean to make it sound like I was quoting you.

	What you will probably lose are any proprietary drivers that came
with the 3200 Sharp ROM and of course the bundled apps.

Yes.  I like having the Kojien dictionary and the handwriting recognition, so I'm going to be stuck with the Sharp Linux for awhile.  (It beats Windows of course; I'd just like to be able to run some Debian/Gnome applications on it).  Everything else, besides the dictionary and handwriting recognition, I could probably do without.  The ideal for me would be to have Debian installed, with some way to install those two proprietary applications in Debian, but that's far off, I'm sure.

Thanks for all the info, Al.  I have a better sense of what my options are now.
Joe