[TriLUG] Pen-Based Computing

[john mitchell]

 > Brian Henning wrote:
>   I've been doing a little googling for handwriting recognition and am not
> coming up with much..  Here's the skinny:
> - Fujitsu Stylistic 1000 tablet computer.  486dx2, 40MB RAM, 128MB of
    I think you may be horsepower limited to do both X and HR. The ram looks 
good but a 486DX4/100 Bogo Mips at 49. Also, many "mobile" type devices use 
tricks to conserve power that impact horsepower/battery such as going to sleep 
between keystrokes, not easy to do in linux land.
> storage right now (a compact flash card...looking for a cheap microdrive
> also).  1.44MB floppy, no CD-ROM, has PCMCIA network card.
> - I want to load some lightweight linux, maybe Slackware.
    I think you may need to go lighter than that, either dsl or another one of 
the 50 Meg distros or you may need to do your own, such as linux from scratch. 
    You definately want a no frills window manager, something like fluxbox or 
twm. Another way to maximize your cpu would be to goto an "embedded" type linux.
    Here's a quick test you can try - load a boot and root floppy (such as 
toms) on a floppy and see what you get as far as the tablet booting/running linux.
http://www.toms.net/rb/
    An adaptor for a PC would allow you to load the operating system onto the 
flash drive, move it to the tablet and then boot. You need to configure lilo 
so that it installs to the flash driive (2nd drive in PC) but boots from the 
first drive in the tablet. (I do this on a 486/DX4 PC-104 (with 4meg of ram!) 
using a laptop hard disk). Be ready for the flash drive to wear out!
> - I do want X.  I have plain VGA (640x480, 16 colors).
> - I'd really like to have handwriting recognition.  It doesn't have to be
> natural handwriting; a single-stroke set like Grafitti would suit me just
> fine.
    I can't help much for this although a search here shows 5 entrys:
http://www.koders.com/?s=handwriting+recognition&_%3Abtn=Search&_%3Ala=*&_%3Ali=*

   At any rate, I want to be able to use the machine without connecting
> any external input devices.  A popup keyboard would also be an acceptable
> solution.
    Linux on the tablet will be easy, the HR may be the hard part, it may 
require detailed specs on the digitizer - that may be the crux.

john mitchell