Running Linux on an iPAQ

By Martyn Honeyford
2005-04-13


Put a Penguin in Your Pocket
Installing Linux™ on your iPAQ can be a great way to breathe new life into aging hardware or make an existing tool even better, particularly if you are a fan of Linux on the desktop. You can leverage your existing knowledge and enjoy the benefits of familiar (pun intended) free and open source software on the move. In this article, learn how to turbocharge your HP-Compaq iPAQ PDA with Linux.

iPAQ is the brand name of a range of PDAs produced by Hewlett Packard (older models are branded Compaq). The original model, 3600, was released in 1999 and featured a 206-Mhz StrongArm processor with 32 MB ROM and 32 MB RAM, running the PocketPC 2000 operating system. Since then, many models have been introduced with a variety of different options. The current top-of-the-range models sport built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and SDIO capabilities and run the PocketPC 2003 OS. All of these devices are plenty powerful enough to run Linux nicely. This article discusses why you might choose to do this and explores some the possible options.

Tutorial Pages:
» Put a Penguin in Your Pocket
» Why Run Linux Instead of Pocket PC?
» Choose Your Hardware
» Download the Distribution
» Install Linux
» Get Connected
» Develop for it
» Reinstalling PocketPC
» Conclusion
» Resources


First published by IBM DeveloperWorks

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