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Familiar Linux is a Linux distribution for iPAQ machines and other [[personal digital assistant]]s (PDAs), intended as a replacement for Windows CE on these machines. It can use OPIE or GPE Palmtop Environment as [[graphical user interface]]. Familiar Linux is a complete operating system with many applications.
[edit] Origin
In May of 2000, Alexander Guy took a kernel that had been worked on by Compaq programmers, built a complete Linux distribution around it, and released the first version of Familiar (v0.1). The distribution was a lightweight package with Python and XFree86 with anti-aliased fonts, used the Blackbox window manager, and included a new packaging system invented by Carl Worth called "ipkg", similar to Debian's dpkg, allowing user applications to be installed and removed.
This next release was so far beyond what the Compaq team had built, that they decided to drop their own distribution and adopt Familiar as the new reference.
[edit] Recent releases
| Date |
Release[1] |
| August 2006 |
v0.8.4 |
| Spring-Summer 2006 |
Various pre-v0.8.4 release candidates |
| April 2005 |
v0.8.2 |
| February 2005 |
v0.8.1 |
| December 2004 |
v0.8.0 |
| November 2003 |
v0.7.2 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
