Opie vs GPE
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Opie vs. GPE
It seems to be a Frequently Asked Question whether to use Opie or GPE, so this page is devoted to a discussion of the pros and cons of both. Have at it!
About Opie
Opie (Open Palmtop Integrated Environment) is most similar to the default Sharp interface, so it is recommended for new users installing OZ. More information and news available at the Opie Home.
About GPE
GPE (GPE Palmtop Environment) uses the X Window system and the GTK+ toolkit. More information and news available at the GPE Home.
My Take
I run OZ 3.5.4 on a Collie, and have found that Opie is
- Faster
- More mature (more packages for it)
- A good bit more "polished"
than GPE. There is every chance of this changing quickly in the future, as GPE provides an interface for porting a larger subset of "standard" Linux apps than Opie does (which must use the Qt library). --JTD 03:11, 4 May 2006 (BST)
That said, I now run OZ 3.5.4.1 rc4 on an Akita, and have become completely aligned with the GPE side of the fence. :) The Akita's added speed really allows GPE's extra features to shine, and it's turning out that a lot of apps need X to run after all. --JTD 09:10, 2 June 2006 (BST)
Sam says
I'm using a C860, and recently installed a 3.5.4.1 release candidate with GPE. I've always used Opie before, but I decided to try GPE to see what it was like.
First impressions were very good - GPE looks very nice and polished, and I sort of like the idea of running X. However, I found the issue of it not running as root something of a pain - yes, it's secure, but at the end of the day it is just a PDA, not a workstation or server. Having to login as root to change wireless networks (since it wouldn't do this automatically) isn't particularly friendly. There were also problems with the text input and other applets vanishing from the icon bar, which made text input a bit of a random process, and sometimes requireing a logout/login.
The built in browser is nice, and renders pages a lot better than the old version of Konqueror that you get with Opie. However, I then discovered it doesn't support SSL, which is a major requirement for me (I check my email via a webmail system).
I couldn't find a way to convert my calendar and addressbook from Opie to GPE format. The addressbook import couldn't import a VCard containing multiple addresses, so this has to be done manually one contact at a time. The big issue though was that I couldn't find a way to send contact information to my phone via IR. This is trivial to do in Opie.
Neither Opie not GPE calendar products support importing/exporting from/to an iCal calendar on the web.
So, at the end of the day, I'm back on Opie. GPE looks nice, and has potential, but currently is missing some core functionality that Opie has had for a while.
-- Samuel Penn.
I really...
I really like GPE more than Opie. As I use my PDA not for PIM but as a Mobile Terminal or just to have Linux everywhere, GPE is my favorite. I think GPE is much more "Unix Like":
- I can start (nearly) all programs I'm using at my desktop. This is a great advantage. I dont have to use the standart texteditor, which can do only a few things more than cat > file. I can use Nedit, Gedit, ... , or my favorite: minimum profit.
- It's also not necessary to use qt-apps. On GPE I can use everything: QT, GTK, Motif,...
- As Im also programming in xlib, I dont have to learn a new API. Everything is nativ X.
- The greatest feature of GPE is the little tool teleport. You can easily send your GTK-Applikation, while running on the PDA to your Desktop. I dont know if theres something similiar in Opie.
- GPE was, is, and will be Open Source Software!
--anon.
Opie:8/10 GPE:6/10
I tried both Opie and GPE for my Collie. I must agree with JTD and Sam that Opie is better for PIM activities and is more suited to older hardware (due to its smaller size).
My biggest gripes about GPE start with the UI, which requires more taps than Opie to run the same tasks. I find that the OE/OZ developers seem to have feature-itis: they invest so much time putting new software under GPE that the quality of what is available is not very good. This isn't really the fault of the developers but more a result of the lack of organization that is open-source freeware. Perhaps the proposed bounty system could address this. And the idea of running firefox and other desktop software under OZ has taken hold but seemingly without regard for the fact that a Z is not a desktop. I would prefer to see applications for the Z that are optimized for its slim resources and developers who focus on making each new piece of software work just about perfectly before moving on to the next one.
My biggest gripe about Opie is more of a gripe that OE/OZ development of GPE seems to have drawn all the developers away from Opie. So now Opie and its apps are getting stale (konqueror and xmms embedded have not been updated for 2 or 3 years now). Bugs are pretty scarce in Opie compared to GPE which is a plus, but reporting a bug in an Opie app is futile as none of the developers will work on it. Maybe this could also be addressed with the new bounty system that was proposed.
Sam said that export/import of iCal data on the web was not possible in his experience with OZ. But I think it might be done with Kopi running under Opie. I just haven't had time to test it. In my case calendar data is downloaded and uploaded via WebDav which I am told by koen (developer on irc://freenode.net/#oe) is supported by gpe-calendar.
I have had fun with OZ so far as an engineer/computer-geek and OZ seems to be the best thing out there for older Zaurus hardware. But as a user I would like to see focus of development shift away from having hundreds of mediocre quality apps under several window managers to a core set of 30 flawless apps for Opie and an equivalent 30 for GPE. Core GUI focus should include browsing the web, sending email, doing PIM, RSS-reading/podcast-playing, multimedia playing, text reading/editing, backup/restore, APM with CPU scaling, network settings. Make the core so good that anyone who uses it wont even consider other hardware or software. Then the bounty system can be used to support development of all the other new and cool stuff.
Since my skills are not well suited for correcting bugs myself, I will definitely be looking for other hardware and software for my next purchase of a mobile device. Feedback I have gotten from other users of newer Zaurus hardware seems to indicate that the Sharp ROM works very well.
-- poushag
- poushag: Great comment! I can understand why the devs do what they do, but "ubuntu think" for OZ would be great -> one core app for every task that is supported, but others are also available. Devs have also talked about going in this direction. I think people like you and me can get devs attention on usability by focusing our bug reports on this (presuming the reports are written well). --Laibsch 21:46, 25 August 2006 (BST)
- The problem with old Konqueror versions is that they contain leaks, and probably lack features as well. Has anyone tried konqueror3-embedded-0.2-20060121.tar.bz2? It requires QT3.1 or higher QT3.x version. I've build it on Ubuntu/Dapper, I'm still figuring the compile options though so far I'm able to compile and start the application. I don't know how to cross-compile for ARM or build an IPKG for that matter and also have no development environment. --allnameswereout
