Re: [NTLK] Project: Newton Connectivity-MiniCD

From: DJ Vollkasko (DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net)
Date: Sun Apr 10 2005 - 03:21:57 PDT


> From: Adriano <adriano.angelillis_at_gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Project: Newton Connectivity-MiniCD
> Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 18:32:25 +0200
>
> Iomega did the "Click!"
> It works via pcmcia adapter to Mac/Win/Linux.
>
> A photo is here:
> http://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/org-img/original/MLA/012005/
> 15319038_3774.jpg

In theory a good idea, but if I think of active storage media, a USB
stick would be more like it, every desktop, every portable today has
USB 2.0... Not all desktops or portables have PC Card, though...

So, we should probably look after getting the whole project to fit on a
nicely portable, inexpensive MiniCD-RW, also on USB stick 128 MB (a
subset) and 256 MB. You agree with this?

Adriano, what connection solutions do you use? Which are you familiar
with? Pls. add them to the Wiki-Page
http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/index.php/NewtonConnectivityCD (and
provide a link to where those apps can be found and where a How-To for
those is available), there's currently only the stuff that I use
(Bluetooth to OS X, Serial+NBU to Win).

>If we could put Linux tools for newton on a bootable live distro like
>Damn small linux which fits on a bussiness card cd. That would be the
>ultimate. Then we could use host x86 machine on the road or at work
>and not have to install anything just boot up on live cd.

Good job, John R.! I see your live system, and raise you by
many-platforms-can-boot-from-CD-and-USB-stick... ;=}

Hmh, how about (a) one tiny distro for x86 (90 % of desktop world), and
(b) another tiny distro for PPC (60 % of Newtonia's desktops)?
Could you provide this, and how large would each live system be? We
don't need a full Ubuntu-distro, do we... ;=}

Damn Small Linux http://www.damnsmalllinux.org clocks in at 50 MB, but
there's a lot that could be omitted, and only the most necessary Newton
connectibility and troubleshooting tools added. I'd prefer each live
system to suit these specs:
-- 20-40 MB (2x 40 MB livesystems = 80 MB; 180 MB - 80 MB = 100 MB left
for OSX, Win, etc. filesystems)
-- light GUI
-- webtools: Firefox + basic mailclient (so you can browse UNNA et al.
and post to NTLK and read replies ;=} )

We don't need this stuff:
XMMS (MP3, CD Music, and MPEG), Dillo web browser, links web browser,
spreadsheet, spellcheck (US English), a word-processor (FLwriter),
three editors (Beaver, Vim, and Nano [Pico clone]), graphics editing
and viewing (Xpaint, and xzgv), Naim (AIM, ICQ, IRC), a web server,
calculator, generic and GhostScript printer support, games

We'll appreciate this stuff:
FTP client, FireFox, Sylpheed email, Xpdf (PDF Viewer), emelFM (file
manager), VNCviewer (what about VNCserver?), Rdesktop, SSH/SCP server
and client, DHCP client, PPP, PPPoE (ADSL), a web server, NFS, Fluxbox
window manager,system monitoring apps, a host of command line tools,
USB support, and pcmcia support, some wireless support.

...so I guess this could be slimmed down by a dozen MB or two... I
mean, we're not Noah, we don't need two of every kind, right?!

>!!!!!!!!!It is a fantastic idea!!!!!

Thanks, John G., glad to see you so excited! So, what's your favorite
connection solution that's still missing on the Wiki-Page at
http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/index.php/NewtonConnectivityCD ?
Could you add it?

Okay, what about Mac serial connection, and other stuff (Next and
whatever), can we also get something going here? If everybody on this
list just adds *one* connectivity solution, we'd have, oh, how many --
two *thousand*? That'd be even more than we need! ;=}

C'mon everybody, let's get to it!

Okay, end of transmission for today (I guess), gotta look into some
other things now.

Cheers,

DJV.

> Il giorno 09/apr/05, alle 17:42, DJ Vollkasko ha scritto:
>
> Idea: Newton Connectivity-MiniCD
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> You all know the situation - sometimes you're on a trip with your
> Newton and want to attach to some other computer, but you suffer from
> strapboot lemprob (that's a reverse bootstrap problem, for all ye
> bl00dy n00bs out there ;=3D} ): Maybe you have everything you need at
> home or even on your Newton, but not available on the other machine
> the office, in school, in the internet caf=E9 somewhere on a vacation
> overseas, or even at yo mama's place...), and w/o some apps on that
> box, things no worky the way you want.
>
> I'd stumbled across a box of MiniCD-RWs (3 inch/8 cm) that a friend
> gave me a while ago. These have a capacity of 156 to 210 MB and can
> fit any Newton case that allows to take an extra PC-Card along. In a
> case like above, it could be really useful to have one of these around
> with just the tools you'd need for the specific machine, whatever that
> is (Windows, MacOS 9, Mac OS X, Linux, Next, AmigaOS,...), to get it
> to do what you want. Would also help to put our Newtons more "out
> there", take 'em with us and get more mileage out of them and using
> other gear alongside our Newts. Plus make things easier for Newton
> beginners to get started, taking away some of the mystique surrounding
> Newton connectibility and stuff. I mean, why does that have to be more
> complicated than using the Newt itself? Really not much reason for
> that, is there. Well, that got me thinking...

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