Python is probably easier to learn than both of those and is definitely more powerful. I learned Python in 30 minutes. Seriously.

Edit: here is the extremely informal tutorial that I learned Python from: http://www.sthurlow.com/python/lesson01/

That teaches you the syntax + basics, then all you need is the Python Reference + PyGTK reference + the Dive Into Python tutorial for explanations of the advanced stuff.

Brent, I do not doubt that Python is easier to learn, or that it's more powerful. My point is that I (and, I assume, some others who share my limitations) would not have to learn either of those languages. I've used both of them before, and as a long-time dabbler (I won't call myself a programmer) in BASIC, I am very familiar with the syntax and conventions.

I don't have any illusions of creating great software for distribution. I just like being able to cobble together some code to perform simple tasks for my own use. I do play with shell scripts sometimes, but sometime I want to go further than they allow. I've experimented some with lua, but haven't made much progress.

In my opinion, being able to do simple, personal programming projects is an essential part of computing, and it's something I really miss on the N8x0.

Yes, if you're used to a language, it can be hard to change, but...

...this only really reinforces in my mind that you should try Python. It is nearly 100% supported on the tablets, and you can, with a good editor like Pygtkeditor, do all your development on-device. But the best part about Python is that it can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. So, you can use Python to create a new web browser (complicated), or use it for simple scripting: it does it all. With zero overhead. This is coming from someone who struggled at Basic and floundered at C.

You can.

I would like to see a port of microblog-purple for pidgin.

http://code.google.com/p/microblog-purple/

remember the milk --> gpe tasks or an app(i know there are rumors/of such, but no luck)

Blender
Inkscape
Gimp (with an interface for the small screen)

Lets see an iDevice do this...

YARR!
}:^)~

{apt'n

In a very greedy way, I would like to see good cribbage, euchre, and mille borne games

Well, GIMP and Inkscape work right?

And Blender... are you feeling ok today?

Would like to see a nice game like TapTap Revolution, and offline RTM support.

Sigh.

Yes, of course, you are absolutely correct. I can. IF, when I find I have time to tackle a project, I'm willing to spend a half hour with the tutorial you suggested, instead. And then make slow, painstaking progress, referring to a language manual for every line of code I write.

There's nothing unreasonable about that. But in reality, if I have a half hour available, I'll find something else to do, something that can be tackled in that time. And the project I had in mind will stay on the back burner, until I'm moved to take on the process of starting to learn a new language. Which, frankly, may never happen.

Obviously, that's my own, personal shortcoming. But I'm probably not the only one who's guilty of it. And despite the alternative you've mentioned, I'd STILL like to see, at the least, a usable BASIC interpreter for the tablet. And I think I'm not alone in that.

Either of the two I mentioned in my first post in this thread would make me happy.

I knew that GIMP was working, but Inkscape is news to me! Thanks for that! Anyway, even on my netbook, inkscape's interface suffers from the 'low' 1024x600 resolution. I'm sure these tools run adequately on the tablet, but would need an interface that could compliment the 800x480 screen. This is what I'd like to see.


Hahaha! That's a great question!

You'd be surprised at what Blender can run on. I was using it for modeling (drawing 3D objects) on an old Pentium 200 Mhz computer sans 3D acceleration. Blender itself is pretty light. It also offers several abilities that would compliment this dimiuative environment:

1) The interface layout is completely customisable. You can place your 3D view windows wherever you want, and size them perfectly. On my pentium 200, I was running blender from a 800x600 screen quite comfortably.

2) The interface is 100% res independent! This means that the dialogs with the buttons can be scaled (in addition to the 3D view). This would further the useful space.

3) You can expand the current view to full-window for greater control.

4) You can reduce processor overhead by hiding on-screen objects. You can even hide portions (verticies, faces, and edges) of the object that you're working on for greater responsiveness.

5) You can choose the rendering mode. One would likely choose wireframe w/o surface subdivision to keep things zippy. But it is still very useful for basic ops.

Take a look at this mockup I did in the 'What would you realistically like to see in the N900' thread (post 53). The screen was purposely resized to 800x480 to simulate what it would look like fullscreen on the tablet:



Interface designers can learn a great deal from blender. One interesting characteristic of the interface, is that the customised layout is saved in the project file. This means that regardless of what computer you take your file to, it will always look the same, making it easy to use across systems.

In addition to portable interfaces, the interface, modeller, compositer, python scripting engine, renderer, game engine, ffmpeg video compressor, etc fit in a 14MB downloadable container. Just goes to show how bloated current apps are.

Ok, so you're likely not going to be rendering anything on this little device, but there are still a number of useful tasks that can be accomplished within blender (assuming that it runs well). One of which is modeling (creation of 3D shapes) as well as setting up lighting, writing scripts, simple positional animations, etc.

Seriously. It would be a fun project to port and would certainly make the news. Of all mobile devices, I've never heard of one that you can run a full 3D modeling and rendering app on. This separates the N8xx line from the pack of mobile toys.

Also, as device capability improves (*cough* N900), this project would be all the more useful. Hey, it may inspire Ton & co to build some light mobile functionality into Blender, exploiting an untapped market, or optimise some pieces for smoother operation.


YARR!
}:^)~

Corruptaneus