Author Topic: A Home For Simpad People?  (Read 7175 times)

Mickeyl

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A Home For Simpad People?
« on: December 06, 2004, 09:58:56 am »
Howdy!

As you might know (or not) SIEMENS once produced a WebPad, the so called SIMpad, where Opie (and GPE) has been ported to. We used the OpenZaurus buildroot to produce the OpenSIMpad Linux distribution.

As you might also know, the active Zaurus community is (thanks to Sharp's odd marketing) more or less shrinking instead of growing. One of our goals should therefore be to bundle resources rather than fragmenting information because of too much channels.

My concrete request: I would like to close the discussion forum @ http://forum.opensimpad.org and let the people discuss on this forum. This forum has a good number of knowledgeable users and developers and both communities would benefit from that merge. The SIMpad people have more or less the same problems as the Zaurus people when it comes to running Opie and GPE.
There is just a couple of SIMpad specifics (e.g. installing a new bootloader or a new image) which would make it necessary to add a forum just for those specifics - more or less the same what the the different Zaurus incarnations need.

I think it would be a good thing that would strenghten this web forum and would push it one step forwards to the definite Linux-PDA forum.

What do you think?
« Last Edit: December 06, 2004, 10:03:23 am by Mickeyl »
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dipnlik

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« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2004, 10:06:45 am »
IMHO, the only drawback for them will be related to the Deutsch Forum, that looks quite big.

But closing the forum can feel a little like wasting information. If their forum stays online for searching, then it'll be fine, I think. Let's hear from them. (Didn't check out their opinion on their forum -- you did post there, didn't you, Mickeyl ? :^) )
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cmartin

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« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2004, 10:12:09 am »
Hi,

As the operator of opensimpad.org I want to second that request. I would like to see the Embedded Linux Community combine efforts in supporting its users.

If SIMpad specific Forums can be set up here I would be more than happy to set the forums at opensimpad.org read-only (for archiving purposes).

Let's do it!!

cmartin

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« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2004, 10:15:15 am »
Quote
IMHO, the only drawback for them will be related to the Deutsch Forum, that looks quite big.
Well, the request has also been sent to z-portal.info which would take care of the german speaking users.

But, yes we should also ask the opensimpad users.

Hrw

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« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2004, 10:18:34 am »
One forum for Embedded Linux systems, one site for Embedded Linux software - it's getting better each day

hmm.. when I will have more then one device with Embedded Linux...
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« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2004, 12:58:50 pm »
Sounds like a good idea. However, I personally think the ZUG forums could be put together in more general sections. I already think there are too many subforums, and when there are going to be 2 or 3 Simpad sections added, it becomes a rather unpleasant browsing experience, having to read through all the different sections.

With the amount of topics being opened, I think it can be justified to make a few rules about having to clearly specify the hardware and software platform, and put them in more general sections. Now I see myself scrolling through the forums that particularly interest me, while topics that might interest me (or more importantly, topics in which I could provide with help)  that get posted in, say, the C3000 forum or the 6000 forum, never get read because they're in a subforum that doesn't draw my attention (I own a C860 and are therefore particularly interested in that model).
A lot of topics that get posted to a specific hardware (or software) platform actually apply to the other platforms as well.

I'm specifically suggesting that the different models (or series, rather: 5x00, 6000, C-series, and possibly Simpad) get one subforum (instead of 2 currently) and be put in some sort of "models" subforum. Due to the developer forums being rather "slow" when it comes to new posts, I think it can be justified to just make 1 "developer" forum as well, and maybe have a set of rules about clearly defining a topic.

Though I can see the need for a forum for unregistered posters, having 2 general discussion forums for me (and I'm guessing other people too) means I have to browse through 2 different forums with generally the same content. This also makes it hard to remember where to find some topic you were following.
The newbie subforum posts would fit just fine in the other technical support forums, the difference between newbie issues and "hardcore user" issues is often ambiguous. Again, the amount of posts does not really justify a separate forum.

I realize this might just reflect my opinion and not the opinion of others, but right now I feel I have to click around much more than I would like, and more efficient and general grouping of subforums would make it a more pleasant place for me.
Maybe this deserves its own topic, but the perspective of getting 2 or 3 additional subforums for Simpad made me feel I should say this

technojunkie

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« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2004, 02:05:59 pm »
One general Embedded Linux repository would be awesome.

Has anybody checked out these folks?
http://www.gumstix.com
« Last Edit: December 06, 2004, 02:06:43 pm by technojunkie »
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dz

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« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2004, 03:05:33 pm »
Although I haven't gotten a chance to discuss it with the other admins, I personally think it's a great idea.

Mickeyl and cmartin: I'm going to have Mike or I contact you guys personally via email about this.  Please make sure the email addresses in your profile are updated

As far as rearranging the forums; we're actually currently in the process of fixing that.  We've been actively discussing it between the admins and figuring out exactly what we want to change and how to do it.  Soon we're going to have a big announcement discussing all the details of everything here.  We just want to be concrete about it before we say anything though.
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Mickeyl

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« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2004, 04:26:20 pm »
dz: Ok thanks, good reminder - with handhelds.org being down I better change my E-Mail address to something more stable  
Cheers,

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offroadgeek

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« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2004, 04:44:43 pm »
I'm swamped with a vendor onsite today, but here's a quick response...

I love the idea, and it is completely inline with the work that dz and I are doing (details to come soon  )

Mikeyl - as dz said, I'll send an email to you about this (I've been meaning to send you an email about something else anyways).

Good thing is, it's a phpbb forum, so it shouldn't take much work to import the current forums data into these forums.
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cmartin

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« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2004, 05:39:55 pm »
yeah, i could supply you with a dump of the sql tables. Feel free to write me.

stickman

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« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2004, 10:34:59 pm »
Is this happening? I hope it does, this is definetely the right place to be.

Mickeyl

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« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2004, 07:34:30 am »
Yes, it will happen. AFAIK the admins are right now working on figuring out how to import the SIMpad forum data into this forum, so that we will have access to the old posts.
Cheers,

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niv

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« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2006, 07:37:21 pm »
I suggest to add a simpad entry in the www.oesf.org
I would like to edit the wiki offered at opensimpad, as some info changed and hte files mentioned there are not easy to find.
I managed to brick my simpad , cause I didnt flash the right files.

in fact It would just be a matter of coping ansers from the forum.