Alternative operating systems

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There are a number of alternative operating systems available for the tablets, this page aims to document them.
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Several alternative distributions and operating systems using the Linux kernel have been ported to the Nokia Internet Tablets. They are mostly derived from Debian or OpenEmbedded; Android is a clear exception.
== Debian ==
== Debian ==
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Debian features the most complete [http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiPort armel branch] of any Linux distribution, as such, its large package-selection makes it a logical choice for tablet-specific optimizations.
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[http://debian.org/ Debian], one of the oldest and most respected Linux distributions, began, in 2007, [http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiPort porting to armel] for its 5.0 ("Lenny") release. This port is now an officially supported architecture.
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The [http://trac.tspre.org/projects/deblet Deblet] project aims to bring these optimizations (largely pushed by [[User:Johnx|johnx]] and [[User:Stskeeps|Stskeeps]]).
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Several users managed to get Debian to boot on the Internet tablets, but the project that became known as [http://trac.tspre.org/projects/deblet Deblet], driven primarily by [[User:johnx|johnx]] and [[User:stskeeps|stskeeps]], was the most successful at getting a working, bootable Debian environment.
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== Mamona ==
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== Ubuntu ==
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"Mamona is an embedded Linux distribution for armel. The main goal of the Mamona Project is to offer a completely open source alternative/experimental Platform for Maemo using only free and open source components."
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The Nokia-sponsored [http://mojo.handhelds.org/ Handhelds Mojo project] began porting Ubuntu to the armel architecture in 2007. While interesting for its compilation entirely on native ARM hardware, this project had several problems that prevented it from becoming a popular alternative.
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Mamona is still fairly immature at this point, so not recommended for non-developers, but the project is moving forward and they're about to reach their 0.2 release (which should bring with it a much simpler installation process). There's more information available and you may be interested in getting involved on their [http://dev.openbossa.org/trac/mamona/ Trac page].
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In late 2008, Canonical [http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8395222090.html announced] an official armel port of its Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty" release. As with the rest of the Ubuntu distribution, the armel port leveraged the work already done by the Debian team to produce a very workable port, and the repositories rapidly filled up with a large percentage of the apps available to other architectures. As with Debian armel, there were several reports of successfully booting Ubuntu on the tablets, but the most well known bootable version of "vanilla" Ubuntu Jaunty was the port by [[User:bman|bman]].
== Mer ==
== Mer ==
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[[Mer|Mer]] is a new Linux operating system, built upon a thin base of Ubuntu Jaunty combined with the best open-source elements of Nokia's Maemo platform, such as the Hildon desktop.
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[[Mer|Mer]] is a new Linux operating system, built upon a thin base of Ubuntu Jaunty combined with the best open-source elements of Nokia's Maemo platform.
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[[Mer|Mer]] has evolved from discussion around reconstructing Maemo and a desire to make a proof of concept system of these thoughts. The "Maemo Reconstructed" Proof of Concept developed into Mer after it was realized that it was - indeed - a viable environment for both developers and end-users.
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[[Mer|Mer]] has evolved from discussion around reconstructing Maemo and a desire to make a proof of concept system of these thoughts. The M-R PoC developed into Mer after it was realized that it was - indeed - a viable environment for both developers and end-users.
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Mer is currently the most active bootable Ubuntu project for the Internet Tablets.
The [[Mer|Mer]] project is still under development and needs help from everybody, if you are interested in getting involved, you can find more information in the [[Mer|Mer]] pages.
The [[Mer|Mer]] project is still under development and needs help from everybody, if you are interested in getting involved, you can find more information in the [[Mer|Mer]] pages.
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== NITdroid ==
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== Mamona ==
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Mamona is an embedded Linux distribution for armel, based on [http://wiki.openembedded.net/index.php/Main_Page Open Embedded]. The main goal of the Mamona Project is to offer a completely open source alternative/experimental Platform for Maemo using only free and open source components.
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[http://guug.org/nit/nitdroid/ NITdroid] is a kernel and userspace port from scratch of the Android operating system (by Google and the Open Handset Alliance) to the Nokia's Internet Tablets hardware.  
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Mamona is still fairly immature at this point, and their last release, 0.2, was in September 2008. There's more information available and you may be interested in getting involved on their [http://dev.openbossa.org/trac/mamona/ Trac page].
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This project is an ongoing effort to make Android usable/useful on the tablet. You can find more information about the project on the [http://guug.org/nit/nitdroid/ NITdroid] website.
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== Poky Linux ==
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[http://pokylinux.org/ Poky Linux] is a handheld-targeted distribution, also based on [http://wiki.openembedded.net/index.php/Main_Page Open Embedded], that provides an open environment, a build platform (much like the Maemo SDK and the Mamona SDK), and a finger-friendly desktop environment known as "Sato".
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== Poky ==
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While still immature on the tablets, and without an official release in over a year. Poky is still an interesting project, and their [http://www.pimlico-project.org/ Pimlico PIM suite], in particular, may interest some users. You can get it from their [http://www.pokylinux.org/getit/ website].
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Poky is a handheld-targeted distribution (the most handheld-oriented of the group), that provides an open environment, a build platform (much like the Maemo SDK and the Mamona SDK), and a finger-friendly desktop environment known as "Sato".
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While still immature on the tablets, Poky is an interesting project, and their [http://www.pimlico-project.org/ Pimlico PIM suite], in particular, may interest some users. You can get it from their [http://www.pokylinux.org/getit/ website].
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== Android ==
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Android Android] is a new operating system by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, based on the Linux kernel, but using custom Java libraries to run all applications.
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== Ubuntu ==
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There have been several successful attempts to boot Android on the tablets, starting with the earliest Android SDK, which was booted from a chroot. When the Android source code became available in late 2008, several teams, working in parallel, managed to get Android booting.
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Ubuntu has been largely recompiled for armel by the Nokia-sponsored [http://mojo.handhelds.org/ Handhelds Mojo project]. While interesting for its compilation entirely on native ARM hardware, the project is still immature and lacks even basic tablet-specific optimizations.
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Ubuntu is not recommended except for those willing to put a lot of time into getting it working on their tablets (getting to a real desktop environment at this point takes a lot of work). See [http://mojo.handhelds.org/files/HandheldsMojo_ELC2008.pdf this PDF] for more information about the how and why of the project.
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The [http://guug.org/nit/nitdroid/ NITdroid] project is a kernel and userspace port from scratch, and it is currently the most advanced port.  
[[Category:Users]]
[[Category:Users]]

Revision as of 23:55, 21 April 2009

Several alternative distributions and operating systems using the Linux kernel have been ported to the Nokia Internet Tablets. They are mostly derived from Debian or OpenEmbedded; Android is a clear exception.

Contents

Debian

Debian, one of the oldest and most respected Linux distributions, began, in 2007, porting to armel for its 5.0 ("Lenny") release. This port is now an officially supported architecture.

Several users managed to get Debian to boot on the Internet tablets, but the project that became known as Deblet, driven primarily by johnx and stskeeps, was the most successful at getting a working, bootable Debian environment.

Ubuntu

The Nokia-sponsored Handhelds Mojo project began porting Ubuntu to the armel architecture in 2007. While interesting for its compilation entirely on native ARM hardware, this project had several problems that prevented it from becoming a popular alternative.

In late 2008, Canonical announced an official armel port of its Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty" release. As with the rest of the Ubuntu distribution, the armel port leveraged the work already done by the Debian team to produce a very workable port, and the repositories rapidly filled up with a large percentage of the apps available to other architectures. As with Debian armel, there were several reports of successfully booting Ubuntu on the tablets, but the most well known bootable version of "vanilla" Ubuntu Jaunty was the port by bman.

Mer

Mer is a new Linux operating system, built upon a thin base of Ubuntu Jaunty combined with the best open-source elements of Nokia's Maemo platform, such as the Hildon desktop.

Mer has evolved from discussion around reconstructing Maemo and a desire to make a proof of concept system of these thoughts. The "Maemo Reconstructed" Proof of Concept developed into Mer after it was realized that it was - indeed - a viable environment for both developers and end-users.

Mer is currently the most active bootable Ubuntu project for the Internet Tablets.

The Mer project is still under development and needs help from everybody, if you are interested in getting involved, you can find more information in the Mer pages.

Mamona

Mamona is an embedded Linux distribution for armel, based on Open Embedded. The main goal of the Mamona Project is to offer a completely open source alternative/experimental Platform for Maemo using only free and open source components.

Mamona is still fairly immature at this point, and their last release, 0.2, was in September 2008. There's more information available and you may be interested in getting involved on their Trac page.

Poky Linux

Poky Linux is a handheld-targeted distribution, also based on Open Embedded, that provides an open environment, a build platform (much like the Maemo SDK and the Mamona SDK), and a finger-friendly desktop environment known as "Sato".

While still immature on the tablets, and without an official release in over a year. Poky is still an interesting project, and their Pimlico PIM suite, in particular, may interest some users. You can get it from their website.

Android

Android is a new operating system by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, based on the Linux kernel, but using custom Java libraries to run all applications.

There have been several successful attempts to boot Android on the tablets, starting with the earliest Android SDK, which was booted from a chroot. When the Android source code became available in late 2008, several teams, working in parallel, managed to get Android booting.

The NITdroid project is a kernel and userspace port from scratch, and it is currently the most advanced port.