Michael Hall, of AllLinuxDevices, submitted this excerpt from his article about several efforts to support Linux operation on PDAs and handheld computers that were originally designed to run WindowsCE. Hall writes . . .

“This week, we'll be looking at a collection of projects that involve taking Linux where it was never meant to go. They're in varying stages of completion and usability, but they all involve getting Linux to run on devices whose designers probably never imagined they were building a home for a penguin: WindowsCE (WinCE) handhelds.”

“Proprietary, closed-standards hardware has been a useful firewall for the Microsoft juggernaut for many years. With an industry that's had little incentive to do anything other than cater to Windows machines, it's been tough at times to get manufacturers to open the specifications to their hardware. Handhelds present an even bigger challenge. They're built of specialty components designed around specific tasks, and no one ever anticipated them being driven by anything other than the OS being built into the machine.”

“. . . The LinuxCE project has decided they aren't going to let the manufacturer's intent, or all that specialty hardware, stop them from taking Linux with them wherever they go, and they've set out to repurpose WinCE machines with a vengeance.”

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