Putting Linux on a PDA is an intriguing idea.

Forget about it... for now.

I think companies or individuals would be much better served by leveraging the quick startup and WiFi capability of current PDAs into their Linux infrastructures and business processes, instead of trying to put Linux on those PDAs.

In this series I'll give tips and observations on using a current generation WiFi enabled PDA with Linux desktops and servers. My plan is to save you some research time by showing you what has worked for me, using a standard off-the-shelf PDA and my Linux run operation. My hope is that some sparks will fly on how you can effectively use WiFi PDAs in your own projects.

Topics we'll cover in the series:

• Set up a generic WiFi PDA on your LAN.
• Browsing the Web.
• Set up a Samba server for WiFi PDA connectivity.
• PDA printing to your CUPS server.
• Web page design considerations for WiFi PDAs.
• Audio (file server and streaming) and your WiFi PDA.
• Video files and your WiFi PDA.
• Set up a VPN between your WiFi PDA and your IPCop firewall.
• Does Skype VOIP on Linux talk to a PDA?
• Other topics, as they develop.

I can only cover a topic or two in each article. In this story we'll start out with the big foundation step: getting a PDA working on a network via WiFi.

Subsequent stories will look at how you can integrate the various functionalities into your business. Rest assured that I won't cover a topic unless it has both WiFi PDA and Linux components.

Next: Ultimate WiFi Portability--The HP 3715 »