Random Thoughts
===============
I had to use my GPD Pocked to do real stuff today. It wasn't anything
advanced: just taking of notes, searching of documents and so. But I'm
still able to use this tiny palmtop (7" or so) for several hours
without problems.
Of course, desktop computer with the big monitor and a full keyboard is
much more comfortable. But it is also much less portable,
I have re-installed the GPD last week: I have replace the original
Ubuntu 16.04 (which was shipped with the device) with a bit newer
Ubuntu MATE (18.04). So I changed the desktop environment from the
Ubuntu's own (but now abandoned) Unity to a more conservative MATE
desktop. That's has actually been a smart move as the MATE is a
descendant of the GNOME 2.x (the only desktop environment on the planet
which I can use without big headache - a simple window manager like the
FVWM would be much better but I'm not brave enough to try it on this
particular device). I actually use some version of the MATE on my
BlackBird workstation and also have an original GNOME 2.1 on one of my
work computers (though I have not started it for very long time as I
have a properly configured FVWM here).
It is interestng that Fedora's and Ubuntu's configurations of the MATE
are quite different - the Fedora is more conservative and it is
actually better controllable from the keyboard (it is close to an
original GNOME setuo). I like this setup more (though I removed the
bottom panel - I newer got why they use TWO panels on wide screens -
one is enough). I will probably re-configure the Ubuntu's MATE (on the
GPD Pocket) to make it more similar to Fedora's setup.
I'm still planning to replace the MATE by the FVWM. I'm not sure if it
will be possible on the GPD (because of some of it's special features
like unnaturally rotated screen, propietary drivers and so) but I plant
to do the change on the desktop (on the Raptor Blackbird). But I need
to properly configure the FVWM and related software first - I wish to
make it's behaviour as close as posssible to behaviour of my old O2
desktop. It is not as easy as copying of configuration files - many
IRIX utilities does now exist on the Linux and the FVWM itself changed
too much in last 20 years. Some commands now behave differently which
annoys me and some even don't exist in the current FVWM (I didn't
updated the FVWM on my O2 from the moment when I installed it in
2005).
Well, when I was in Edinburgh (in 2003, I think) then one guy at the
university told me that he was using his FVWM without changes 10 years.
I was unimaginable for me in that time. And my very own .fvwm2rc is now
about 16 years old (with minimal changes like addition of new programs
to application menu). And it was created by conversion from the even
older .fvwmrc. So that setup is at least 20 year old now...
On other news: as I already stated, I'm now reading more on my Palm III
(many thanks to Jynx for creating his Plucker documents collection
[1]!). I'm actually reading Plucker version of the Palm Tipsheet volume
34. It's very interesting reading about software that I never used (and
which is sometimes still available), about Palm users and their habits,
about their visions of PDA future and so. There was a Treo 90 review
with the Graffiti-vs-keyboard discussion, for example.
About phones: I read the Logout's phlog about phone use [2]. I still
use my new dumbphone (a Punkt MP01) with no additional fucntions. But
it seems to be a dead end. It's uses the 2G networks only. I expect
that I will able to use it for several years but these 2G things will
probably not last much later. So I will have to search for a new
solution in next 3-5 years (I also think that the phone's build-in
battery will not live much longer). I tried to find an another dumb
phone but with the 4G support (it is expected that 3G networks will
quit BEFORE 2G ones here). IT seems that there is no thing called 4D
dumbphone. Everything has an Android (albeit crippled: the Light Phone
II, the Punkt MP02) or the FirefoxOS/KaiOS (various Nokias, for
example). The Ubuntu Touch/UbPorts OS is not a help as it is just an
Android with more Linux-like userland.
So in the future I probably will have to select from these who. I hope
that another solution might emerge...
References:
[1]
gopher://1436.ninja/1/plk
[2]
gopher://i-logout.cz/0/phlog/posts/2019-09-08_episode_vi_return_of_the_mobile_fun.txt
This post was written on the SGI O2.