[ARMedslack] Newbie Question

[Stuart Winter]

Hi Tibor

> Thanks for adding me to mailing list. I have an Acer N30 PDA
> (http://www.arm.com/markets/mobile_solutions/armpp/5571.html), and i
> would like to install ARMedslack on it. Is it possible at all? If so
> could you give me any link to a documentation or howto about that?

I ought to write an FAQ for this question :-)

There's kernel support for the Acer N30 PDA and the URL
I found is here:
http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/AcerN30Documentation

However, what do you want to do with the PDA once you get Linux onto it?

You could get Slackware ARM on to it but it'd require some effort on your
part:
 - compiling a kernel with the support for that device
   (there is kernel support in 2.6.32, and probaly earlier)
 - getting the boot loader configured and working so that it boots
   linux
 - figuring out how to install Slackware onto its storage.

My opinion is that:
 Slackware is good for servers, desktops and devices that have adequate
 storage and RAM, since it's a general purpose distribution.

I don't think that Slackware is good for PDAs because PDAs usually have:
 - small RAM
 - small storage
 - slow CPUs

The Acer N30 has a slow CPU but it could still run Slackware ARM, but I'd
question how you would interface with it given that most likely need
adjustments or additions to X in order to use those buttons.
My concern is that you turn what is a useful gadget into something that
really isn't useful at all! ;-)

But as I said, it depends what you want to achieve and how much time
you want to put in.

-- 
Stuart Winter
Slackware ARM: www.armedslack.org