Other OSes
From Openmoko
There are two areas in which other OSes can take a part in Openmoko. First, not everybody will use Linux on the computer to access their phones (including download and develop software); we call this the host OS. Second, some people may wish to run some other software than Openmoko on their devices, and especially other Linux distributions should be viable.
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Alternative host OS
Microsoft Windows
- dfu-util for Windows: Dfu-util-windows
- USB and Bluetooth Networking: Neo 1973 and Windows
Mac OS X
Covered elsewhere; see MacOS_X. They have dfu-util and ether-gadget working.
FreeBSD
qemu-neo1973 works see Talk:Openmoko_under_QEMU#FreeBSD_and_last_qemu.... Nothing else known. See FreeBSD
NetBSD
We have an experimental NetBSD/evbarm Neo1973 kernel booting on Qemu Neo1973 emulator on NetBSD.
OpenBSD
The umodem(4) driver works with the u-boot console. When the umodem driver claims device 0x1457:0x5118, it becomes inaccessible to libusb-based applications such as dfu-util. The cdce(4) driver works "out of the box" with Openmoko's ethergadget interface, so you can ssh in, run remote X clients, scp in or out, etc.
Ian Darwin has a port of dfu-util partly working (list works but not download).
Alternative software for the Neo1973 phone
The Openmoko project has invested a lot of time & energy in making the Openmoko software stack work nicely on the Neo1973 phone. But it is your phone and, unlike most providers, we will not stop you from running whatever you like on the "bare metal" of the phone itself. And some people are never satisfied with a device until they've flashed the firmware multiple times. Here are some alternatives.
Other Linux distributions
- JavaFX Mobile -- At JavaOne, Sun demonstrated JavaFX running in the phone. Although based on a similar Linux kernel, this is a completely different user-mode stack.
- Angstrom on Neo1973
- OpenedHand provides http://pokylinux.org/
- Trolltech provides Qtopia on Neo1973
- QuantumSTEP -- User mode GUI stack and SDK compatible to Mac OS X and Xcode/IB (based on GNUstep).
- LiMo (maybe) http://www.limofoundation.org/
- The Debian armel port
Windows CE?
Windows CE runs on some Arm-based handhelds, so it is theoretically possible.
Other OSes?
Anything other than Linux or WinCE?
e.g. OpenBSD or maybe FreeBSD or NetBSD?
You can write your own OS by running your own code on the bare metal.