Lycoris brings the Linux desktop to your handheld
Lycoris will ship a version of its desktop Linux operating system (OS) designed specifically for handheld devices in Q2, 2004. The OS, dubbed Desktop/LX Pocket PC Edition (DL-PPC), will provide a "commercial-ready" and user-friendly OS that Lycoris hopes to license to device designers as well as market directly to consumers. DL-PPC will initially support ARM-based PDAs such as the Sharp Zaurus and HP iPaq. However, it uses a standard Linux kernel -- version 2.4.18 initially, with updates planned soon -- making it relatively easy to port to other architectures, according to Lycoris Founder Joseph Cheek.
According to Cheek, DL-PPC adds customizations to the OpenZaurus, Opie, and other open source project code bases that improve usability. Cheek has worked to improve Linux usability on the desktop since founding the Redmond Linux project -- which later became Lycoris -- in 1999.
