On Sun 04 Aug 2002 at 06:26:20 +0900, Jerome Gotangco wrote:

> I talked to matz about this a few weeks ago and he invited me to ruby-
> core to delve into it since he has no experience with porting stuff.

Well, no porting is really necessary to get the basic package
running. It's just another ARM based device, so you just need to use a
cross-compiler and point it at the right libraries, etc.

The Tk stuff won't work, of course, because the necessary libraries
are missing from the Zaurus' stripped down environment. Besides, the
Zaurus doesn't have X.

> I was thinking of starting a similar project, but I have to finish some 
> stuff on the zaurus that is related to mysql (I'm learning QT programming 
> at the same time, so the task is quite slow). I have a packaged mysql 
> running on my zaurus, a 5500 model with a 128MB CF card an a 64MB SD
> card.

It's amazing what you can do with the Zaurus. In addition to Ruby,
I've put Perl on there. Testing out snippets of code has never been
easier. With a WiFi card, a sniffer like Kismet and essential network
tools like nmap and netcat, it's a powerful arsenal of tools in your
pocket; a veritable sysadmin's dream.

But I digress; Ruby is the point of this thread.

> Finally, if the port does work fine, we'll probably have to package it so 
> others can try it out. A sourceforge project seems to be in order when 
> things go rolling.

I've put up a page at http://www.caliban.org/ruby/ruby-zaurus.shtml,
but this only contains a link to the binary distribution (in .tar.gz
format) that I put together to install directly onto my SD card. It's
less suitable for anyone wanting to run from a CF card or -- perish
the thought -- the RAM drive.

A next step would be to add a true Zaurus .ipk package, as they
require very little knowledge on the part of the user. On the other
hand, anyone wanting to hack Ruby on a Zaurus is probably not going to
be averse to getting their hands dirty on a tar file.

Ian
-- 
Ian Macdonald               | Alexander Graham Bell is alive and well in 
ian / caliban.org             | New York, and still waiting for a dial
                            | tone. 
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