I've also tried the GPE image from Open Zaurus. I prefer the look of GPE being a gnome man, and don't really need the Zaurus for Sysadmin so the lack of "tools" doesn't bother me that much. However, I couldn't install anything on GPE, although I admit I didn't try for very long after discovering CoreDump's excellent (Opie) SD card image. The GPE image is not really usable yet according to the Wiki;
gpe-image
* gpe-package isn't really usable at the moment.
* Auto shut-off/screen dimming isn't working yet.
* Not all gpe-conf sub-applications are Zaurus-friendly yet.
* If gpe-nmf crashes when you try to play a file, run 'gst-register' from the terminal - This should fix it.
* Could do with a 'start menu' suspend command (not too important)
* 'Start menu' suspend function (it is there on mine!) hangs system
* System is not suspended automatically on battery, despite "Light & Power" settings
* after VNC installation, /etc/init.d/fbvncinput references a nonexistent group (and fails) - change root.input to root.root
* must run ldconfig after restart
* Can't login after having changed owner information - Must re-flash
* Console (rxvt) closes sometimes (example: ls /etc/init.d), but not in Landscape mode.
https://www.oesf.org/forums/inde...?showtopic=7059 has details.
* At the first boot following the flash process a picture is displayed for quite a long time. There's no progress bar nor activity indicator. Don't reboot, just wait: it's normal.
* If using rxvt, and opening and then closing on-screen keyboard, closes the terminal
My own personal advice is to install the hentges flavour Opie, and then follow the instructions for installing Opera on this forum. I am eager to see GPE become more usable, unfortunately I am not technically proficient enough to do anything to speed that up!