Here at $BigDefenseContractor we're looking at the Zaurus for use in the field in a number of applications where a laptop would be too expensive, too big, or too obvious. We want to use Linux for reasons of cost and security. We need it to be easy to use. I'm comfortable on the command line, and have been using Linux for about 7 years, but the end user must be assumed to not be comfortable on the command line.
The Zaurus looks like exactly the sort of device we need. So we're evaluating the C3000 and C1000. This is an R&D project, so I can go off on various tangents if I want to. Open Embedded was one such tangent.
What follows is a preliminary evaluation (for management):
OpenZaurus 3.5.3, Opie image, on SL-C3000 (Spitz) Preliminary eval.
Install went fine. Instructions (http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/installation/sl-c3000/) on the OpenZaurus website were clear, easy to follow, and complete. Especially compared to instructions available for reflashing with the stock Sharp ROM and much better than the OpenBSD instructions, which are terrifying.
Looks very nice. The Opie GUI makes good use of the 640X480 screen. It has many useful applications (especially the file manager and text editor) installed 'out of the box'. No MP3 player, image viewer, or sound recorder but those may be available for later installation. Menus, icons, and fonts are clear and readable. More so than with the stock Sharp setup.
Issues:
Eats the battery. Suspend from the main menu and it seems to suspend, but I suspect it just turns the screen off. Fully charged at 7PM, dead by 8AM. May be related to known problems with it not booting properly when a card is in the CF slot as I had an 802.11 card in the CF slot when I suspended.
No GUI applet for configuring 802.11 (wlan0). I have no idea which configuration file I need to edit to configure wlan0, or how to stop/start it from the command line. Therefore, we can't network it at this time.
Major problem: Keyboard mapping. The Fn key (apparently a known bug) doesn't work. Therefore no @, *, |, <, or > keys. This makes it, effectively, impossible to use the command line. It also makes it impossible to use most of the applications we use. If there's no ":" key, how do you SSH? Answer: You don't. Can't use 'more' without '|'. Can't email without the '@' key. Etc. Etc. Etc. They do work from the terminal (menu->Terminal, this shuts down X). However: The esc and alt keys aren't mapped or, if they are, it's a non-obvious mapping. To get out of vi I had to unplug the Zaurus, pull the battery, and reboot.
The networking and keymap issues render OpenEmbedded unusable for us at this time. Once those issues are resolved the C3000 with OpenZaurus will be a viable platform for our uses.
Yes, the keymap problem with the Fn key is mentioned in the wiki. The esc key being missing (it's missing on the Sharp ROM, too) is not mentioned. Searching through the forums for information on howto setup wifi turned up nothing of use. Lots of returns, but all on the lines of 'I got wifi working!' and none on 'Here's how I did it!'
I really like the Z (we're also looking at the C1000) and OE+Opie looks like it will (eventually) be very useful.
The real problem (for us) is one of timing. If we'd started this last July we'd have been able to get some 860's to play with and would've had OE on those, running fine. If we'd started next July OE for the C3000 would probably be running fine. Starting in January meant we were too late to take advantage of all the work that's been done with the 860, and too early for the C3000.
