“This week, we’ll be looking at a collection of projects that
involve taking Linux where it was never meant to go. They’re in
varying stages of completion and usability, but they all involve
getting Linux to run on devices whose designers probably never
imagined they were building a home for a penguin: WindowsCE (WinCE)
handhelds.”
“Proprietary, closed-standards hardware has been a useful
firewall for the Microsoft juggernaut for many years. With an
industry that’s had little incentive to do anything other than
cater to Windows machines, it’s been tough at times to get
manufacturers to open the specifications to their hardware.
Handhelds present an even bigger challenge. They’re built of
specialty components designed around specific tasks, and no one
ever anticipated them being driven by anything other than the OS
being built into the machine.”
“…The LinuxCE project has decided they aren’t going to let
the manufacturer’s intent, or all that specialty hardware, stop
them from taking Linux with them wherever they go, and they’ve set
out to repurpose WinCE machines with a vengeance.“