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Messages - Fraggy

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61
Accessories / What is the best storage media?
« on: July 20, 2004, 02:36:50 pm »
Very nice to have the freedom of choice, yet confusing for the newbie, hehehe.

The SL-5500 has 2 slots, one CF that also takes Microdisks and a SD slot that also takes MMC cards...

I suppose it is wise to try to keep the CF slot "free" as much as possible, since that's the slot that is needed for the peripherals (ethernet cards & stuff), this is a bit of a bummer considering the CompactFlash memory cards seem to be the cheapest storage media!!!!

So what are the differences? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different media, when used in a Zaurus (the SL-5500 especifically)?

A Microdrive sounds nice (especially since it's capacity can go way beyond 1 GB), but a 1Gb CF card is waaaaay cheaper, so why would I buy a 1Gb Microdrive? Is it faster? If so, is the greater speed really needed?
SD cards are not only more expensive than CF, but also their copy protection, which has no real added value for the common user, may cause for more problems than pleasure... but using an SD or MMC card does keep the CF slot free for use with a CF peripheral...

So could anybody give their experiences and opinions about this matter?

Thanks in advance!

JM.

62
General Discussion / Relational Database
« on: July 20, 2004, 02:17:46 pm »
Stubear, thanks for the correction. I don't even know what M$ Access actually is...

It's definately not a database, considering the definition of what a database should be (you know: ACID compliance, SQL compliance, well implemented security and stuff...), but well, it apparently serves it's purpose for quick and dirty (emphasys on dirty, hehe) database applications for the "suits" (sorry, I meant database-LIKE applications  )

But now we're getting a bit off-topic. Ron is looking for a tool that can replace his HandBase application.

DBDesigner 4 (http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/) is a very nice "Front End" to MySQL, in fact it is much more: it's a program that allows to VISUALLY design and implement MySQL databases! (An ER Modeling program, to be precise, equals the propriatary "ERWin")

It's open source and runs under win32 / Linux. Would be nice if someone ported it to the big Z. (And added support for PostgreSQL would be appreciated )

JM.

63
General Discussion / Question about dangers of FLASHING the ROM
« on: July 20, 2004, 01:59:50 pm »
The standard Sharp ROM looks cute...

... but once I saw screenshots of OZ, with it's colorfull desktop backgrounds and the transparent menus, oh my God!

And even before that I already figured that 3rd party goodies would be (or surely become!) a lot more interesting than Sharp's own stuff. Hey, hey the power of Open Source

I read some guy flashed his Zaurus DAILY, due to the fact that he "just got" the big Z. It's a bit like a honeymoon I guess, the addictive gameplay with the newly aquired toy, until the newness wears off and the raw physical attraction is replaced by true and long lasting love, hehe. (Until you run off with a new model, hahaha!).

Well, anyway, thank you very much for your advice, I now feel much more comfortable with the idea of flashing.

Can't wait to get my hands on the big Z

JM.

64
General Discussion / How much Open Source is the Zaurus?
« on: July 19, 2004, 11:15:54 pm »
I very strongly agree with dz.

Micro$oft did help to turn a whole buch of previously stupid users into wiser users, wise enough to realise it's time to take another turn

In my opinion, M$ also did a lot of bad things,  f u c k i n g  around with standards and therefore hindering progress in computer sciences, but they did introduce "user friendliness" which made the PC accessible (financially accessible and userfriendly enough for non-techies) to the whole wide world!!!!

For the rest, I hate M$ for the abuse of their power and flaky products (they still are the only company that produces a virus vulnerable OS), but it's true that in the bad things, we also can find some good things!

Closed source in itself is not bad at all, it's just how it is used... It is not the gun that kills, it is the finger that pulls the trigger!

There's a lot of non-Micro$oft closed source which is very good, ORACLE's database to just name one of the many examples. In those cases I do not need to change the programs (so I do not need to have access to the source code). They spent a lot of research (time and money) on develloping such a solid product (while Micro$oft spends those resources on lawyers instead) so it's only normal that they keep their trade secrets to themselves and ask good money for it.

The need for source code to be open or closed depends on more than just a rule of thumb that says that it is bad when the source is not accessible.

I some cases, however, I would indeed say that as the "end" user, I NEED to see the code, for security reasons, but even then, it may perfectly be proprietary code that is not to be released to the public.
A fine example of this need would be the scandal caused by Lotus. Some years ago, Lotus notes had a "back door" in their software, allowing the NSA easy access to encrypted mails sent with Lotus Notes. Given the fact that a lot of European governamental organisations were using Lotus Notes, when somebody found out, this news had the impact of a bomb!!!!

So where security is involved, I would say that the code needs to be made accessible to the user, because we have no reason to trust companies like Micro$oft or SCO...

In the case of drivers, like is the case of NVidia, that's another problem... Just as long as they perform very well and that they include the features we ask, it's okay, even though open sourced drivers would allow for more flexible situations and would allow for more freedom of choice. NVidia is perfectly entitled to keep their trade secrets to keep their edge, but it would be nice if they released details on their specs so that 3rd parties could write drivers without having to resort to backwards engineering. But if the driver comes from Micro$oft, there's no garantee that this driver doesn't spy on my internet browsing habits  .

So I'd prefer Open Source, but I do respect closed source!!!!

If you wanna support Open Source even more, give a small donation to the devellopers that made the programs that you like the most!

JM.

65
General Discussion / Mortal Kombat on the SL-5500
« on: July 19, 2004, 10:07:55 pm »
I'd gladly find out for myself, but I don't have my Zaurus yet... and I'm soooo impatieeeennnntttt!!!!

My Zaurus will be mainly used for * s e r i o u s * work, but a bit of gaming fun is necessary once in a while, so how does the 206 Mhz StrongArm processor live up to those gaming needs?

I figure the difference between the 400 Xscale and the 206 StrongArm are pretty big (if not huge)... How well does the 206 perform??? Is "Mortal Kombat" (under Mame emulation) playable on the SL-5500??? How about Metal Slug (yeah, I know, these roms are heavy on resources). What mame roms are playable? (with sound / without sound).

Can anyone tell me his experiences with a Zaurus SL-5500? How well do certain emulators work, which ones are too heavy for the SL-5500?

How about Commodore 64 emulators? I suppose that they are not so heavy and that a good old graphical adventure like "Castle of Terror" or "The Hobbit" should do fine! No?  

How about ScummVM (very important!!!!): does it work okay? It should, because it's Linux native, but does it? What a great experience it must be to play Monkey Island on a small LCD screen, sitting on the coutch or in bed (instead of reading a book before going to sleep).

Is it worth to overclock the processor using http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=810 ?

If watching video, I guess DivX is too heavy, but mpg-1 (using my local network) should be ok, no?

And then about programming: how about LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP), I know Apache runs on the Zaurus, but how about PHP? And PostgreSQL?

And how about battery life? When gaming extensively, how long do the battery last, one hour?

And the size of the screen? 320x240 seems pretty small to me, but from the screenshots I see it appears to be quite sufficient (although I drool by the thought of the full VGA screen of the C series!!!)

Etc... etc... Please tell me your experiences...

In the meanwhile, as soon as I got my SL-5500, I'll save money for a newer model!!!! I definately WANT a bigger screen and a faster processor. Long live the Zaurus and Long live Sharp's new LCD technology!!!! Hurray to Linux and hurray to Java (I'll pick up my Java programming again )

66
General Discussion / Relational Database
« on: July 19, 2004, 09:10:58 pm »
About my previous post: those are databases for people who are actually "programmers". I checked Handbase and I realize that it is the "MS Access" clone for the Palm and Pocket PC, so MySQL is definatly not what you are looking for.

There are many database appz for the Zaurus (check http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/) but I fear none of them will equal the features and userfriendliness of HandBase (Well, my first impression of handbase is that it is a product that had the time to mature!!!!).

I suppose Ron still can use a Palm emulator on his C-860 to run HandBase if he doesn't want to part with it   !!!!

Hope this helps!

JM.

67
General Discussion / Relational Database
« on: July 19, 2004, 08:55:50 pm »
And for something even beefier (but more solid) I'd advise PostgreSQL.

I've done some research on open source databases for a big mission critical project, and there's quite a few alternatives. How well they scale DOWN to the Zaurus, I don't know, but MySQL ran fine on my p233 laptop with 96Mb RAM under NT, so I suppose it should perform very well on a StrongArm 206 processor under Linux!

When we're talking about a 400Mhz Xscale processor, I guess you can run all of them  without problems!!!!

There are many databases, but the following appealed the most to us:

- MySQL (but a bit flaky when it comes to serious database applications (please don't flame me!))
- MaxDB, a joint venture of SAP with MySQL to make an "enterprise" version of MySQL
- Firebird (which performs very well and has almost zero administration needs) (previously Interbase from none other than Borland)
- PostgreSQL, which was designed as a solid DBMS from the ground up, and since it's an open source VETERAN, our choice fell on PostgreSQL (also it's popularity results in a very broad supporter's community, so you'll find a LOT of support and 3rd party appz).

Which one you choose depends on your needs...

If you want a database that supports transactions, triggers and stored procedures and the likes and complies to SQL standards and on top of that enjoys wide support, then go for PostgreSQL!!!!!!

MySQL is getting better each release, making up for its previous weaknesses and even the remaining weaknesses can generally be "worked around", so MySQL may very well perfectly suit your needs!!!!

MySQL and PostgreSQL come standard with many Linux distro's, so I'd say that they do belong on a Zaurus too  

JM.

68
General Discussion / Question about dangers of FLASHING the ROM
« on: July 19, 2004, 07:55:07 pm »
Thanks for your support guys!

so basically I can play safely with "software updates" (installing OSses and Whatever Linux distros ) but I just have to be more carefull with "hardware" updates (the Sharp roms).

Okidoki, so I guess now I got the knowledge I need

Many thanks!!!!

JM.

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