- GPE
infobox software
name = GPE Palmtop Environment
caption = Screenshot of GPE 2.8 on a Palm TX
latest release version = 2.8
latest release date =7 August 2007
operating system =Linux
platform =Personal digital assistant s
genre =user interface
license =GNU General Public License ,GNU Lesser General Public License
website = http://gpe.linuxtogo.org/GPE (a
recursive initialism for GPE Palmtop Environment) is agraphical user interface environment forhandheld computer s, such aspalmtop s andpersonal digital assistant s (PDAs), running theLinux operating system. GPE is a complete environment of software components and applications which makes it possible to use a Linux handheld for tasks such aspersonal information management (PIM), audio playback, email, and web browsing.Available under the terms of the
GNU General Public License and theGNU Lesser General Public License , GPE isfree software .Supported devices
GPE is bundled with embedded
Linux distribution s targeting the following platforms:*
Sharp Zaurus
*Hewlett-Packard iPAQ
* Hewlett-PackardJornada 72x
*Siemens AG SIMpad SL4In addition, GPE maintainers and the open source community are developing ports for additional devices:
*
GamePark Holdings GP2x
* Nokia 770
*Nokia N800
*Palm TX
*Palm Treo 650 [http://www.grack.com/programming/misc/TreoLinux.html]
*HTC Universal
*HTC Typhoon
*HTC Tornado
*HTC Wizard On February 5th, 2007, The GPE project announced [http://gpephone.linuxtogo.org/ GPE Phone Edition] , a new variant of GPE developed for mobile phones. [cite web |url=http://www.linuxtogo.org/new-project-gpe-phone-edition |title=New Project: GPE Phone Edition |accessdate=2007-08-23 |last=Boor |first=Florian |date=2007-02-05]
Development
GPE is a
X Window System based GUI, utilizingGTK+ for interfaces and Matchbox for window management. The project provides an infrastructure for easy and powerful application development by providing core software such as shared libraries, database schemas, and building on available technology includingSQLite ,D-BUS ,GStreamer and several more common standards defined byfreedesktop.org .One of the major goals of the GPE project is to encourage people to work on
free software for mobile devices and to experiment with new technologies.Some of the applications already developed for GPE include:
* "GPE-Contacts" - A contacts manager
* "GPE-Calendar" - The calendar application
* "GPE-Edit" - A simple text editor
* "GPE-Filemanager" - A file manager withMIME type and remote access support
* "GPE-Gallery" - Small and easy to use image viewer
* "GPE-Games" - A small collection of tiny games
* "GPE-Mini-Browser" - ACSS andJavascript compatible compact web browser
* "GPE-Sketchbook" - Create notes and sketches
* "GPE-Soundbite" - A voice memo tool
* "GPE-ToDo" - A task list manager
* "GPE-Timesheet" - Track time spend on tasks
* "Starling" - A GStreamer based audio player
* "VLC " - Amedia player GPE's PIM applications (GPE-Contacts, GPE-Calendar, GPE-ToDo) can be synchronized with their desktop and web counterparts (such as
Novell Evolution ,Mozilla Sunbird andGoogle Calendar ) through the use of "GPE-Syncd" and the OpenSync framework.GPE also contains a number of GUI utilities for configuring 802.11 Wireless LAN,
Bluetooth ,IrDA ,Firewall , ALSA, Package Management, among others.A mobile
push e-mail client based on theTinymail framework is in development.Linux distributions
GPE can be found as a primary environment in the following embedded Linux distributions:
* Ångström
*Familiar Linux
*OpenZaurus Though it may not be as highly supported as the distributions listed above, GPE is also available through package management utilities in the following distributions:
*
Ubuntu
*Debian
*Internet Tablet OS Controversy
There are ongoing controversies surrounding the GPE project regarding a change of hosting service, ownership of an
IRC channel, and a trademark dispute. [cite web |url=http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/05/24/157218 | title= GPE project and Handhelds.org in acrimonious trademark dispute | accessdate=2007-08-18 |last=Willis |first=Nathan |date=2007-05-24] [cite web |url=http://lwn.net/Articles/236287/ |title= Whose project is it anyway? | accessdate=2007-08-22 |last=Corbet |first=Jonathan |date=2007-07-07]Web hosting
Serious issues first began developing over a proposed change of hosting service. GPE had been hosted at [http://handhelds.org Handhelds.org] since April 2002. Some of GPE's developers suggested, and later followed through with, a move to [http://linuxtogo.org Linuxtogo.org] by October 2006. [cite newsgroup |url=http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.handhelds.gpe/5523 |title=New home for GPE? |accessdate=2007-08-23 |author=Nils Faerber |date=2006-08-17 |newsgroup=gmane.comp.handhelds.gpe] Handhelds.org responded by removing the user accounts of the departing developers, and any links or reference to the new [http://gpe.linuxtogo.org GPE Linuxtogo.org] location on the original [http://gpe.handhelds.org GPE Handhelds.org] site. [cite web |url=http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/GPEProject?action=diff&date1=1167946855&date2=1164453993 |title= Diff for "GPEProject" - Handhelds.org MoinMoin Wiki |accessdate= 2007-08-23 |date=2007-01-04]
IRC channel
Both parties claim ownership of the #gpe
IRC channel located atFreenode.net . Freenode.net has placed the channel in trust, or locked, until both sides can come to an agreement. Subsequently, Linuxtogo.org currently uses #gpe-project, and Handhelds.org uses #handhelds-gpe, both on Freenode.net.Trademark
George France, a Handhelds.org administrator, has filed for trademark registration with the
USPTO for GPE, in addition toOPIE andIpkg as of March 6th, 2007. [cite web |url=http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/tow?SRCH=Y&isSubmitted=true&details=&SELECT=US+Serial+No&TEXT=77123546# |title="US Serial No: 77123546, Application" |accessdate=2007-08-23 |date=2007-03-26] On June 25th, 2007, the USPTO declined to accept a screenshot of the Handhelds.org GPE website as proof of Handhelds.org's ownership, and in addition requested a better specimen for a “GPE product”. [cite web |url=http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/tow?SRCH=Y&isSubmitted=true&details=&SELECT=US+Serial+No&TEXT=77123546# |title="US Serial No: 77123546, Offc Action Outgoing" |accessdate=2007-08-23 |date=2007-07-25] Handhelds.org, and OSI board memberRuss Nelson , assert that the GPE project was given over to Handhelds.org for public development. [cite web |url= http://www.handhelds.org/geeklog/article.php?story=20070525101908558 |title= The backstory to the trademarks |accessdate=2007-08-23 |last=Nelson |first=Russ |date=2007-05-25]The GPE developers working at Linuxtogo.org maintain that they represent the active GPE project, and Handhelds.org was only a hosting provider. [cite newsgroup |url=http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.handhelds.ipaq.general/18811 |title=Re: crosscompiling question, ...Maybe this could be hosted on sourceforge.handhelds.org?... |accessdate=2007-08-23 |author=Nils Faerber |date=2001-12-21 |newsgroup= gmane.comp.handhelds.ipaq.general] [cite web |url= http://fl0rian.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/threatened-update/ |title= Threatened - update |accessdate=2007-08-23 |last=Boor |first=Florian |date=2007-05-23] Furthermore, they point out that the GPE project existed before it was hosted on Handhelds.org. [cite newsgroup |url=http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.handhelds.ipaq.general/18846 |title= GPE - GNU PDA Environment |accessdate-2007-08-23 |author=Nils Faerber |date=2001-12-22 |newsgroup= gmane.comp.handhelds.ipaq.general]
The USPTO issued a final rejection regarding the GPE trademark on February 27th, 2008. George France amended the application (removing references to
GNU and Linux). The GPE trademark was officially published for oppostion June 3rd, 2008. [cite web |url=http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77123546 |title="Latest Status Info" |accessdate=2008-07-01 |date=2008-06-03]Despite George France's impending personal GPE trademark, the core GPE development team at Linuxtogo.org has abandoned much of the Handhelds.org GPE infrastructure. Linuxtogo.org developers have switched GPE to a new bootloader and replaced IPKG with OPKG, not to mention major changes to the GPE gui applications. [cite web |url=http://fl0rian.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/gpe-trademark-rejected/ |title= GPE trademark rejected |accessdate=2008-07-01 |last=Boor |first=Florian |date=2008-03-28]
See also
*
OPIE (operating system)
*Palm OS
*Pocket PC
*Qtopia
*Windows Mobile References
External links
* [http://gpe.linuxtogo.org/ GPE web site at LinuxToGo]
* [http://gpe.handhelds.org/ GPE web site at Handhelds.org]
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