This article is Part 4 of the exciting new LinuxDevices.com series by Jerry Epplin that explores the history, status, alternative architectures, and future developments of Linux on PDAs and handheld devices. In this installment, Jerry explains how to download, install, configure, and test Trolltech's Qt Palmtop Environment (QPE), and gives his impressions of what it's like to develop handheld apps using… QPE. Epplin writes . . .

“Previous articles in the series introduced the options available (part 1), discussed the handhelds.org kernel project (part 2), and covered the Century Software Microwindows Development Environment (part 3).”

“The handhelds.org distribution uses the X window system, an appropriate choice for a high-end PDA like the iPAQ. But several companies provide GUI development environments implemented directly on the Linux framebuffer device, an approach that results in more efficient use of resources at the expense of the flexibility of X. One such development environment is the Qt Palmtop Environment (QPE) by Trolltech, the developers of the Qt GUI framework.”

“In this article, I will discuss what QPE is and what's unique about it, explain how to obtain and install it, and review its operation and utility as a developer's tool.”

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