Peek Presents Challenge: Linux on Peek
Peek presents the community a challenge to get Linux running on their small handhelds, without much fanfare.
Specifications for the challenge are few, just a blog entry from July 7 sent to the community asking "Which One of You Can Get Linux Working on the Peek?" After a few links to ARM and Linux, Dan Morel of the Peek team writes, "So armed with this new fountain of information I'm hoping one or more of you out there in the world can get Linux running on the Peek. Feel free to post here on how far you get." And further: "And here's the deal, if one of you does make it happen you can have a little mini-consulting gig with us to tell us how you did it and how we could build a Mobile Linux Peek."
In one of the blog responses, "Matt" writes, "The possibilities are indeed intriguing from a Linux point-of-view: This would be the cheapest Linux device I know about, and it has a screen, keyboard, and GSM." Another response came from a Pandora developer on the Gentoo project, although the issue has not yet been raised in the Pandora blogs.
At $20, the Peek Classic is a 3.8-ounce mobile mini-device with display and keyboard for emailing. The processor is an AMR7 from TI at 104 MHz, currently running on the homegrown Peekux OS. The Quarter Video Graphics Array (QVGA) display is 320 x 240 pixels and 8 MB of memory is standard. Data flow is by GPRS/GSM. The device is about as big as a normal mobile phone, but flatter and wider. The Peek Pronto enhanced edition costs $60, but can handle five instead of two email accounts. Pronto can also process PDF and DOC formats, although it's available only in black. The monthly email service cost is $15, with support for Gmail, Yahoo and others.
Not only does the New York firm present the challenge but also itself with a wink of the eye. Their Peekononics website offers some guidance on how to save mobile service costs over those of the popular providers. Their employees and testimonials are called "Peeksters." Simplicity is written all over the product: its birth came about when founder Amol Sarva needed a simple email device for his wife before the arrival of their first child.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.