Other Tools and Software
There aren’t many PalmPilot-oriented programs being developed for Linux or Unix workstations, but that situation may change once the connectivity suites are mature. Development tools exist, but they’re traditional command-line drive tools, which are less attractive to developers accustomed to the GUI-driven Integrated Development Environments.
Pyrite
Pyrite (formerly called PalmPython) is one of the more exciting new tools. It’s an extension of Python, the object-oriented scripting language, and was developed on a PC running Linux. Pyrite requires Python 1.5 or newer and pilot-link 0.8.11 or newer running on Linux. It should also work with little or no modification on most Unix platforms.
MakeDoc
If you’d like a tool to convert your text files to Doc format (see Chapter 10), use makedoc, included on this book’s CD-ROM. makedoc is a C++ program, and you can compile it with gcc. Once files are converted to the DOC format, you can send them to the PalmPilot using pilot-xfer. (Also worth trying: txt2pdbdoc, which converts text to and from Doc format, as well as from Doc to HTML format.)
Z-doc
Z-doc is a Doc reader developed under Linux and released under the GNU GPL.
Linux on Palm
Where does this all lead? What’s the natural progression for the PalmPilot and Linux? Why, Linux running on the PalmPilot itself, of course! A group of enthusiasts has ported the Linux kernel to the PalmPilot’s Dragonball microcontroller. So, if you want to impress your friends, you ...