Opera Mini comes for a few different platforms, like J2ME and Microsoft, but the source is closed so porting to linux would be a problem. Also, chumby doesn't have Java, so it couldn't be run through that. Even if it could be, it would be pointless because the interface would be inaccessable without a keypad. The best bet would be for someone to port Mozilla or Konqueror to the platform.

Another possibility would be to have a WAP browser. WAP pages are designed for cell phones, so they have less memory and input requirements than traditional websites. And there is a growing number of WAP sites around, so a browser would be very useful.

As for the iPod Linux stuff, even if the processor is the same, the screen, input devices, internet, etc. are so different that it would be no use to port iPod Linux apps over.

sounds like a plan. you could rip things like history, themes, bookmarks. all unnecessary stuff, just have a browser that run a specific page (hell, you could specify that in a text file and modify it via ssh).

also, i shouldnt see why you couldnt have a small onscreen keyboard. use something like wheelboard (where you have two buttons. 1 with a-m on it, and with with n-z on it, then you select one. so if you selected a-m, the buttons change to a-f and f-m. and so on.)

or you could usb HID (although that does defeat the purpose of chumby)

yeah but Rdesktop isnt a thin client. a thin client is where you run a limited o/s on the device, and all the processing is shoved onto another computer. you dont control the other computer, you just process on it.

pics?

why not run an xserver on chumby? and then either connect locally, or to a remote one?

somebody could modify the latest ubuntu live cd, so its simple enough to set up a thin client server.

you wouldnt have to install linux. run it off a live cd. hell, you could possibly run it in vmware player (shouldnt see why we couldnt legally distribute the files).

EDIT:

http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7499590573.html

if what i read is right, they provide thin client servers that run off the internet. it might be a good idea to give them a shout, see if they have anything to offer.

just out of curiousity, could you run ubuntu on chumby? i know you would need to make the UI smaller, but is the possibility there? i love ubuntu, its a shame my college course requires me to use winblows.

not anything specific, i just thought it would be a way to get a bit more processing power for chumby, and to open it up for a wider variety of applications. RUnning vmware player isnt too difficult. its just a matter of install and run. no faffing. if you ran ubuntu in the software, all you would theoretically need on the chumby would be a pxe booter, with some wi-fi support. a small low-level linux distro would probably be good enough. you could possibley have this running as an alternate boot on the retail chumby, so that normal users boot straight to chumby o/s , but with a simple tap of the screen, more experienced users could run the pxe boot software. it might make it a bit easier for hacking.

i shouldnt see why you couldnt run ubuntu on chumby though, cos you can get Debain For ARM, and chumby is based off debian, so its definitely a possibility. im sure ubuntu supports touch screens, so it would be an interesting project.

having a dual boot would be a little better for advanced people. im sure you could port GRUB, then just have that on bootup, with say a 5 second no-response delay.

sounds interesting. its whether your distro would support the touchscreen, and all of chumbys hardware. its deffo a possibility though. id love to run a thin client. i run linux on my xbox so i could probably run the server on that.

I like the idea of running an X server on a seperate machine and just running the X client on the Chumby. I wonder if there is such thing as a Windows X server?

[UPDATE] Turns out there is. http://x.cygwin.com/. [/UPDATE]. The [UPDATE] tags serve no purpose but are neat.

Maybe a customized installation could be made? You could shove Cygwin, the required Cygwin packages, Cygwin/X, and a custom set of configurations on a CD that comes with the Chumby, and shove a lightweight X viewer / VNC thing onboard the chumby. Call it the 'Chumby Enhancement Server Software'.

Even better, make it a custom virtual machine using Bochs or similar, and have it hide in the background. Then you could include a number of apps and stuff. Or am i getting too complicated?

Perhaps you could take advantage of X-Over-SSH Tunneling? then you could create a custom X application or something.....this is too deep for me.

--neg

no, the chumby owner runs the software on his/her PC.

--neg

Raff is right

X is a heavy protocol - running the X protocol over the internet is not a good idea, it's bandwdith intensive.

I don't think it is upto the Chumby server admins to host an X server (X client?) for us, as it's not really going to help their profit margins and, lets face it, it's much better running on the local machine.

^^

could be done with cygwin