Compaq

[Sean]

I thought this was interesting. 

http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO46150,00.html

Compaq releases handheld Linux port for developers

BY BOB BREWIN AND BOB BREWIN (June 22, 2000) Compaq Computer Corp. this
week said it has ported Linux to its iPaq handheld computer so that
open-source software developers can start working on potential
applications for the device, which currently is based on Microsoft Corp.'s
PocketPC technology and Windows CE operating system. 

The Linux-based iPaq isn't being made available to end users at this
point, and Compaq didn't disclose any plans to release a commercial
version. But application developers can download the source code for the
Linux port from a new Web site focused on open-source handheld development
that the Houston-based computer maker is hosting. 

Bob Iannucci, vice president of corporate research at Compaq, portrayed
the Linux port as a research and development project that started with an
experimental pocket computer called Itsy acquired by the company as part
of its 1998 purchase of Digital Equipment Corp. 

The research work has now been extended to the iPaq device that Compaq
began shipping late last month, the company said. It added that the Linux
port and the new Web site are aimed at enabling "developers and
researchers (who are) looking to explore applications and uses for
handheld computing to experiment with" the iPaq device. 

But Compaq's confirmation of its potential interest in supporting Linux on
iPaq follows recent moves by other vendors that are looking to run the
open-source operating system on mobile devices. And analysts said that if
the test port pans out, they expect Compaq to move forward and start
producing a Linux-driven iPaq. 

Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham,
Mass., said using open-source Linux "could lead to a lower-cost device"
because Compaq wouldn't have to pay the same royalties that it does to
Microsoft for Windows CE. 

"If they have success (putting Linux on iPaq), you can bet they will
market it," said Ken Smiley, an analyst at Giga Information Group Inc. in
Cambridge, Mass. Whether Compaq would pass the royalty savings on to users
of the handheld device is far from clear, Smiley added. But a Linux-based
iPaq would "put competitive pressure on Microsoft" above and beyond what
it already faces from handheld market leader Palm Inc., he said. 

A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company had no immediate comment on
Compaq's plans, beyond noting that the test port "is still very much in
the research phase." 

San Mateo, Calif.-based Palm said it hasn't taken any formal steps to add
the Linux operating system to its handheld devices. But late last month,
PC maker Gateway Inc. in San Diego announced plans to develop a line of
wireless Internet appliances that will use a mobile version of Linux
developed by Transmeta Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif., company in which
Gateway has invested. 

Linux vendors such as Red Hat Inc. in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and
Lineo Inc. in Lindon, Utah, have also introduced versions of the
open-source operating system that can be embedded into Internet devices
and other equipment. Lineo has said a second release of its Embedix
software that's due next year will be able to run Windows CE applications. 

But thus far, Kusnetzky said, Linux hasn't captured much of the market for
embedded systems.