Significant Numbers of Non-Developers?

John Locke mail at freelock.com
Fri Jul 20 22:26:36 CEST 2007


Hi,

Jeff Rush asks,
> I'm curious what a non-programmer is going to do with this device in the next
> few months.  And if your first use of Linux is on the device itself, and you
> run Windows on your desktop, how you're going to grow your Linux skills and
> effectively develop applications.  Just seems odd to me, but maybe I'm
> overlooking something. ;-)
>
>   
Okay, I probably fall into this group, of non-programmers buying the
first available version... you tell me. I am a web programmer and system
administrator, and have built a company to five people now doing open
source web projects and system administration, but I've never learned C
or embedded development, and my coding expertise is limited to PHP,
Javascript, and a little Perl or Python here and there. So why did I do
one of the first 10 orders? (Order #1828 - still no credit card charge,
though)

1. I need a new PDA. My last one was a Palm V, and it died years ago.
I've been getting by without one, but as the company has grown, I find I
need better access to my addressbook/schedule, and a Smart Phone sounded
ideal. Just when I was starting to look (late last fall), the OpenMoko
project was announced, and my immediate thought was "that's it. That's
exactly what I want." I've even been thinking about buying a GPS, so
that's a nice bonus. I already have a decent camera, so I don't care
about that. And this week, my cell phone is starting to cut people off,
too--I'm hoping the OpenMoko dialer will be usable enough soon...

2. The idea of an open, Linux phone is irresistible. I have been using
Linux full time on the desktop/laptop for over 4 years, and on servers
for over 7. I spend as much time in a shell as I do in the rest of the
desktop. While I'm not really a programmer, I have no fear of setting up
a development environment and doing whatever is necessary to get it to
work, and I have no fear of seeing a console window or anything else
here. And the thought that maybe I could write some cool little
application in Python to do whatever I want the phone to do--that lowers
the bar to the point I just might start developing apps for the thing.

3. I'm patient. Mostly. I mean, I've been waiting 9 months for this
thing. I can't wait to get it in my hands, but once I have it, I don't
need it to be fully functional--I can wait a little longer for that, and
if I can help put the pieces together, maybe I can contribute something
to make it smoother for the next people to pick it up. I do have a
technical writing background ;-)

4. I want to evaluate it as a strategic direction for my company. I
think there could be lots of ways this could become a fantastic tool for
businesses who wouldn't think of it now... things like adding an RFID
reader/bar-code scanner and use it for warehouse inventories, hooked up
to LedgerSMB. Or creating a daily log file for commercial truck drivers,
automatically associating location and time and sending entries back to
the company's server. Or a home-inspection report that can be checked
off at the home, and when done, a report automatically emailed from the
company server to the customer and realtor. Or dozens of other custom
applications that have people doing things away from a computer, which
might be able to be hooked to a web application that uses OpenMoko as a
client. The earlier I get my hands on one, the sooner I can see how
realistic these ideas might be... and the sooner we can start working on
a platform for doing this type of thing that we'd happily contribute
back to the community.


I'll almost certainly get a GTA2 as well, and hand the GTA1 over to my
wife when it's usable enough...

P.S. I am going to Ubuntu Live on Sunday, at least to the exhibit hall
and the BOF... I'll look forward to meeting people there!

Cheers,

-- 
John Locke
"Open Source Solutions for Small Business Problems"
published by Charles River Media, June 2004
http://www.freelock.com





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