First off, I just bought an N800 off of eBay, and Reason #3 as to "Why I bought a N800" was because of this site! So thank you, already, for all the information! I am excited to learn with you and eventually help teach. (#1.Price to Power + Portability ratio, #2. Hackability/Versatility/Dynamic applications #3. Support/Community)

I searched the forum and did not find anything to what will be "My first of many questions". I'll try to make this succinct:

When coming upon a new application or web based service, and they say things like Windows/Palm/Mac compatible, but they mention nothing about Linux, does this mean that I should just leave it alone and keep on walking? Or is there a work-around to getting it installed and working on OS2008 (N800)?

For example:

This pages says the following:

What are Yahoo! Autosync’s supported PIMS and Systems?

PIMs:
Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002/2003
Outlook Express - 5.5 (on Windows 2000 SP4), 6.0 (on Windows XP)
Palm Desktop 4.01/4.1/4.1.2/4.1.4/6.0.1

Systems:
Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP Pro SP2
Windows XP Home SP2

... And further says this about the program:

What devices or programs can I sync with using Yahoo! Autosync?

You can synchronize your Yahoo! PIM data (Address Book, Calendar, Notepad, To-Do List) with the following:

Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002/2003
Outlook Express - 5.5 (on Windows 2000 SP4), 6.0 (on Windows XP)
Palm Desktop 4.01/4.1/4.1.2/4.1.4/6.0.1

Lets say I wanted to over-the-air (without using another computer) sync my Yahoo information with my N800 (OS2008)... would this be possible with (or without) some hacking?

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The mirror question to the above: If an application/service includes 'Linux' in the list of 'system requirements', does that guarantee that it will work on the N800 (OS2008).

For example: with the browsers on the N800 (OS2008), do things that incorporate (formerly Google) Gears work with OS2008 browsers?

I assume 'yes' because of what Google says here:

Installing: System requirements

To use Gears, you'll need one of the following:
* Microsoft Windows XP or Vista with Firefox 1.5+ or Internet Explorer 6+
* Apple Mac OS X 10.4+ with Firefox 1.5+
* Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 (or higher) or 10.5.3 (or higher) with Safari 3.1.1
* Linux with Firefox 1.5+
* Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 or higher, with Internet Explorer 4.01+

The following devices are currently not supported:

* Samsung i320 and i320N
* Orange SPV C600
* Motorola Q

Again, since this is my first post, I feel obliged to show my affection for this site! Thanks so much for being an active community. It's been great to have any whim of a question answered with a quick search!

... I feel as if I already know so much about my N800, and I haven't even 'met' it yet! Perhaps the closest I'll come to knowing what it is like embarking on an arranged/mail-order marriage!

I second your enthusiasm for this site, jamexcel.

About app compatibility, I generally stick to the apps discussed in this forum and ones listed at maemo.org and garage.maemo.org sites, because i don't know enough about linux to make things work with maemo. however, i think you can emulate PalmOS using garnet vm. check this thread for more PIM apps:
http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=17142

AND you can always post a request here for someone to try porting something new if it's open-source. chances are, someone will at least be able to point you in the direction of a similar app being worked on (and possibly already ported) for maemo.

The linux used on the tablet is a tablet specific version. You should look for maemo specific applications only which are found here http://maemo.org/downloads/OS2008/ and a few other places (read the sub forum apps)

In general, you can divide apps into native (or compiled) and interpreted.

Native apps run directly on the processor, so they must be compiled for compatible CPU, OS, and system libraries; in our case, that means ARM and Linux, at a minimum. So programs available for Linux, but only x86 binaries, like the normal version of Skype, won't run. Programs for Windows or MacOS definitely won't. If ARM Linux binaries are available, they may work, but they may depend on different library versions. (Debian has a ton of software compiled for ARM with such dependencies, but more on this later.) But if a program is open source, and is written for some UNIX (BSD, Linux, MacOS X, etc.), there's a reasonable chance it can be compiled for the tablets, so don't assume you're SOL just because there's no ARM binaries.

Now for libraries: Debian has newer versions of many system libraries, and Debian packages depend on them, so you need them. One obvious solution is to run Debian instead of Maemo, and this works. You probably don't want to, though, especially on an N800 (no keyboard!). Another solution is to install Debian alongside Maemo, and run Debian programs there from in the Maemo desktop. Qole has put together Easy-Debian, an excellent set of scripts and whatnot to make this easy.

Interpreted programs, on the other hand, are read and processed by an interpreter, which is typically a native program. The question then becomes whether an interpreter is available for ARM Linux, which is often true. (Flash, Python, java, perl, and others are available.) If the interpreter is here, it usually doesn't matter what OSes they claim.

Actually, though, any code may be interpreted, even code intended to run natively. This normally causes a serious performance hit, though, especially as the entire OS for the emulated CPU must be run or emulated, as well as the desired app. However, emulators do exist and run well for a number of gaming platforms, x86 (dosbox), 68k mac (basilisk), and palm (gvm).

Thank you for these responses!

JMJanses: Thanks for the great link (http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=17142) . As you guessed, I am looking to PIM-erize my N800. I used to have an HP iPaq 110, and I would love to wifi sync with my online info (I used to be on Yahoo, and am now trying to migrate to Google, tyring to find solution for syncing an address book, notepad, and a ToDo list, besides the obvious multiple-Calendars, and less-obvious Docs... but this will be my next read-up/posts). So many many thanks for the lead!

MobileDivide: very succinct yet very very pertinent response! Thanks for clarifying that. I am a total Linux newbie, and this tidbit helps a lot.

and three cheers for Benson! Thanks so much for taking the time to give me so much to read up on... I've seen all the words before, I understand more or less what they mean, and your post will be my "map" on how they all fit together. I clearly have a lot of reading to do, but that's part of why I bought this machine. I am happy to have so many clues to follow. Daunting indeed! I'm actually scared to the core that I this was a 'bad purchase' considering all the things I have to do these days, but I am actually praying that whatever work I put into learning about linux now will blossom for me later... I guess I need to find a (few) good post/book/method of learning 'the basics' to 'compiling', 'libraries', 'binaries'. I am sure I can google/wikipedia these terms and get some good on-line tutorials... no?

and btw- for newbies that are greener than I, to help you start decoding Benson's email, you should know that ARM = CPU (processor) and Linux = OS (operating system) on the N8x0 series ITablets.

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So, for something like (Google) Gears, which is open source software: if it says Linux, but not specifically Maemo, I should assume that it won't work 'off the bat'... it would have to be 'compiled for the tablet' (I don't quite know what that means yet, but I hope I used it correctly!).

Thanks again!

(So it's taken me 2 months of reading/learning to fully be able to understand the entire email. I'll post here the wikipedia-pages that are good for newbies to read to understand the Linux nuances necessary to read most of these posts.)

_What are and how can I find INTERPRETER Programs (are there keyword that help find one)?

AND.. when some gives instructions to insert code to add libraries etc... and you see things such as the lines just below, what is it referring to?:
(obviously some sort of command line inputs, but how would you get to some sort of prompt... is it in xterm that you do such things?)

# apt-get install e2fsprogs
# umount /media/mmc1
# umount /media/mmc2
# sfdisk /dev/mmcblk0
/dev/mmcblk0p1:1,16384,6
/dev/mmcblk0p2:16385,,83
/dev/mmcblk0p3:
/dev/mmcblk0p4:
# reboot

You are correct on the second half of your post. Those lines are meant to be run, typically as root, in the "Terminal" window. The # is just to show you the prompt, and is not actually a part of the command, so leave the # off (in short: you can't copy and paste that entire block.)

As far as "finding" interpreted programs.. I don't know of any short/quick way to do so.. there are many different languages that these are written for.. as Benson pointed out: Flash, python, java, ruby, perl, etc. An example of a program that is interpreted is Flyback. The extension on the program is ".py" which means it's written in Python, and requires the Python interpreter to be installed before you can run it.

Now.. depending on the different modules that any particular interpreted program requires.. just having the interpreter may not be enough.. and they STILL may not run appropriately. To keep with flyback, it requires several python modules, and a couple of which I do not think have been ported to "maemo" yet - therefore, even though you can get "Python" for your n800 - you may NOT be able to run Flyback on your N800.

Now, using Mer, or the Easy Debian setup, this becomes more of a possibility because debian and ubuntu have ported large numbers of their libraries and modules to the ARM architecture.. but these libraries/modules may not be compatible with Maemo's libraries (typically much older, gnome-based libs) so cannot be just directly loaded into maemo.

The process of "which programs can, or can't I run" is actually really very complex.. which is why for newer users it is best to stick ONLY TO the applications you see listed on here, or at the official Garage sites, or if you're experimental and find some random website where they've made something that specifically says it works on "N8x0".. then you might be ok.

However, that doesn't stop you from finding an app you would LIKE.. coming here and searching for it, if not finding it then starting a thread asking A) if it's possible, and B) if so, is it already ported? C) if not, will someone be nice enough to take the time to do so?

jamexcel: Sorry, my writing was probably less clear than it could have been, but very glad you're sticking with it and learning stuff anyway.

Fatalsaint's reply was quite good, but I'd add one point here:
One more place: downloads.maemo.org.

And any program from downloads.maemo.org should install simply and easily, bringing with it any dependencies, that is programs (such as an interpreter) or libraries it requires to run.

Benson: you were very clear and wrote the way you "should" have ... for the same reasons why you do not want to talk 'baby-talk' to a 3 year old! I simply did not speak the language, at all, and I am slowly 'growing up' as a linux user!

And FatalSaint, thank you very much for the clarifications and precautions!

rfsi