Random Thoughts =============== I had to use my GPD Pocked to do real stuff today. It wasn't anything advanced: just taking of notes, searching of documents and so. But I'm still able to use this tiny palmtop (7" or so) for several hours without problems. Of course, desktop computer with the big monitor and a full keyboard is much more comfortable. But it is also much less portable, I have re-installed the GPD last week: I have replace the original Ubuntu 16.04 (which was shipped with the device) with a bit newer Ubuntu MATE (18.04). So I changed the desktop environment from the Ubuntu's own (but now abandoned) Unity to a more conservative MATE desktop. That's has actually been a smart move as the MATE is a descendant of the GNOME 2.x (the only desktop environment on the planet which I can use without big headache - a simple window manager like the FVWM would be much better but I'm not brave enough to try it on this particular device). I actually use some version of the MATE on my BlackBird workstation and also have an original GNOME 2.1 on one of my work computers (though I have not started it for very long time as I have a properly configured FVWM here). It is interestng that Fedora's and Ubuntu's configurations of the MATE are quite different - the Fedora is more conservative and it is actually better controllable from the keyboard (it is close to an original GNOME setuo). I like this setup more (though I removed the bottom panel - I newer got why they use TWO panels on wide screens - one is enough). I will probably re-configure the Ubuntu's MATE (on the GPD Pocket) to make it more similar to Fedora's setup. I'm still planning to replace the MATE by the FVWM. I'm not sure if it will be possible on the GPD (because of some of it's special features like unnaturally rotated screen, propietary drivers and so) but I plant to do the change on the desktop (on the Raptor Blackbird). But I need to properly configure the FVWM and related software first - I wish to make it's behaviour as close as posssible to behaviour of my old O2 desktop. It is not as easy as copying of configuration files - many IRIX utilities does now exist on the Linux and the FVWM itself changed too much in last 20 years. Some commands now behave differently which annoys me and some even don't exist in the current FVWM (I didn't updated the FVWM on my O2 from the moment when I installed it in 2005). Well, when I was in Edinburgh (in 2003, I think) then one guy at the university told me that he was using his FVWM without changes 10 years. I was unimaginable for me in that time. And my very own .fvwm2rc is now about 16 years old (with minimal changes like addition of new programs to application menu). And it was created by conversion from the even older .fvwmrc. So that setup is at least 20 year old now... On other news: as I already stated, I'm now reading more on my Palm III (many thanks to Jynx for creating his Plucker documents collection [1]!). I'm actually reading Plucker version of the Palm Tipsheet volume 34. It's very interesting reading about software that I never used (and which is sometimes still available), about Palm users and their habits, about their visions of PDA future and so. There was a Treo 90 review with the Graffiti-vs-keyboard discussion, for example. About phones: I read the Logout's phlog about phone use [2]. I still use my new dumbphone (a Punkt MP01) with no additional fucntions. But it seems to be a dead end. It's uses the 2G networks only. I expect that I will able to use it for several years but these 2G things will probably not last much later. So I will have to search for a new solution in next 3-5 years (I also think that the phone's build-in battery will not live much longer). I tried to find an another dumb phone but with the 4G support (it is expected that 3G networks will quit BEFORE 2G ones here). IT seems that there is no thing called 4D dumbphone. Everything has an Android (albeit crippled: the Light Phone II, the Punkt MP02) or the FirefoxOS/KaiOS (various Nokias, for example). The Ubuntu Touch/UbPorts OS is not a help as it is just an Android with more Linux-like userland. So in the future I probably will have to select from these who. I hope that another solution might emerge... References: [1] gopher://1436.ninja/1/plk [2] gopher://i-logout.cz/0/phlog/posts/2019-09-08_episode_vi_return_of_the_mobile_fun.txt This post was written on the SGI O2.