screen - I transfer it to my zaurus and it doesn\'t even show up in the installable list (yet is in the Install_Files directory).
screen works fine for me. Make sure you have libncurses5 installed. I had the same problem as you with the ipk so I extracted the files and installed it manually. (an ipk is really a .tar.gz in disguise)
Terminal (supplied with the Zaurus) - is cute if I only need one terminal (hence the idea of screen). Any way of firing up multiple terminals from this?
You can use embeddedkonsole from Opie, which gives you tabs. Or just use screen. Or both.
Should I just ditch the default Sharp ROM and use someone else\'s distribution that will give me these features?
There are no alternate 6000 Roms... yet.
How about compiling? Grab a zaurus based gcc or is there a gcc out there that will cross compile for the zaurus?
Follow the x-compiling HOWTO on this site.
What is the deal with compatibility of software (and ipk\'s) between the 6000\'s and the 5x00\'s? Anything really different that causes things to break?
Most applications work fine. The 6000 can even switch to 240x320 mode if the app requires it.
Or am I on drugs and none of this is really possible yet. Please don\'t make me go back to my boss and tell him we gotta buy WinCE based machines to do remote support!
I don\'t know anything about vpnc, but everything else should work fine. The Z just requires a bit of a DIY attitude compared to other handhelds, but as a Unix admin that shouldn\'t be a problem.