Linux in the Palm of Your Hand

Good as Linux is in a laptop, it's better in your hand. Now that I've used a couple of Linux palmtops (the Agenda and Sharp Zaurus SL-5500), I'm never going back.

• It's reliable: I've hardly ever had a Linux machine lock up irretrievably because of flaky software. A palmtop is a little different because it might not be connected to a network (so you can't just telnet in and kill whatever is grabbing the console), but even so it's extremely stable.

• It's multi-user! You may not think that a palmtop -- the epitome of personal technology -- needs to be multi-user, but it does. Your palmtop is docked by the side of your desk: are you going to use its tiny little screen and stylus, or are you going to telnet (or ssh) over and run commands on your full-sized keyboard and monitor?

• It's networked. Unlike Windows and Palm, which had networking grafted on rather late in their development, Linux has had it since the beginning, and it works right. Run apps over the network with X, mount files with NFS, build a VPN out of ssh or IPSEC.

• It's multitasking. You can be backing up over the network, browsing the web, and listening to an mp3 all at the same time.

• It has a huge collection of device drivers. If all you have is a serial port, you can use SLIP or PPP to connect; if you have a compact flash-to-SCSI adapter you can burn CD's.

• It has applications. Almost any Linux program is just a compile away.

• And most of all, it has an active developer community. The entire development environment, including cross-compilers for whatever CPU your palmtop is using, is free and widely deployed. Developers will eagerly port their favorite applications to whatever palmtop they own -- it's easy.