Re: Linux on Hand Held Computers?

[ashw@lr.net (Ash R. J. Wyllie)]

Excerpted from the mind of John C. Peterson;


>   The list appears to have "taken off" (pun intended). I just
>checked and there are now 56 subscribers to linux-aviation from
>all over the world: Australia, Canada, Europe and the US. Welcome to
>everyone, please feel free to post questions and ideas!

>   Let me throw out a topic of personal interest for discussion, namely
>"What will the future hold for Linux and Hand Held Aviation related
>computing???"  I'm most interested in the smaller devices that will fit
>in a shirt pocket, can easily be mounted on the yoke, panel or perhaps
>a small "knee board", and has reasonable battery life.  Here's some
>things to reflect on;

>  1) What are the most promising platforms for Hand Held Aviation
>     Computing??? The 3Com Palm devices are obvious candidates: there
>     is already a good interface between Linux and PalmOS, small size,
>     good battery life, large existing user base, etc.

>  2) What is the long term prospect of running Linux itself on such
>     devices???  I know there is a already a project that is taking on
>     the task of porting Linux to small memory environments. Check out
>     the uCLinux web web site at;

>       http://ryeham.ee.ryerson.ca/uClinux/ (Main, US Site)
>       http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/~riel/uClinux/ (Mirror, Europe)

>  3) What would be the major advantage of running Linux itself on these
>     devices, or is it better to just stick with the native environments
>     (e.g.  PalmOS)???  What about developing code in Java? For example,
>     see

>       http://www.hewgill.com/pilot/jump/index.html (Jump)
>       http://www.cs.utah.edu/~mcdirmid/ghost/ (Ghost)
>       http://www.wabasoft.com/overview.html (Waba)

>  4) Potential applications??? Here's a few:

>       o Weight and Balance
>       o E6B "like" calculations (Density Altitude, etc).
>       o Moving Map for use with GPS
>       o Speed to Fly (for gliders)

I can add a few here. If it is possible to extract heading from a HSI (and to
sneak in a digital ASI) winds aloft can be calculated. As well as IFR position
reports.

                         -ash
                         (Paging Peter LaNague)

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