Kettles' Netwinder Info Page

Netwinder Software

When I finally get my Netwinder, I'll be posting some general linux software in Netwinder binary form, and some netwinder specific stuff written in ARM Code (ARM Assembly). Top of my list are:

A decent filer for X, intended to be incredibly simple and quick - basically a copy of the RISC OS filer (see below if you've never heard of RISC OS)
Some ports of StrongARM RISC PC demos to show what the nw can really do
A decent BASIC for linux - probably loosely based on BBC BASIC V/VI - a proper BASIC, with facilities to use X (hopefully).

What's this RISC OS thing you keep going on about?

RISC OS is an OS that was originally created in 1987 by Acorn Computers in the UK - It has always run on ARM processors, from the ARM 2 to the current StrongARM. Acorn have recently announced that they are stopping making desktop computers to concentrate on Digital TV and NC's (they produced the original reference design for Oracle back in '96). Anyway RISC OS, although it is not a brilliant OS in terms of multithreading etc, it does have a most wonderful GUI - we had a taskbar and scroll bars sized in relation to the size of the window while Bill Gates was still worrying about overlapping windows. We've had proper drag 'n' drop for 10 years and antialiased text & graphics for as much time. Anyway, I digress. The RISC OS GUI is what linux needs to make it acceptable for average home users. Hopefully a loose (to avoid copyright problems) port will be started soon (not by me). RISC OS should run on the nw native with some work on the video system - I'll be making the point heard to some companies soon (don't hold your breath!). Over 10000 software titles are avaliable for RISC OS, including some that are a lot better that anything the PC has ever had. </chip-on-shoulder>

ARM Assembly tutorial

ARM Assembly is possibly the easiest and most powerful assembly language to learn and use - (whole DTP and graphics packages have been written in it). I'll be including a tutorial soon for those nw developers new to the ARM architecture.

About Me

I'm 16, and live in Birmingham, UK. I'm a ARM fan and developer of Quality software for RISC OS and (soon) Linux. I'm studying Maths, Physics, and Computing at A-Level. My only computer until my netwinder arrives is an Acorn A410/1 with 4Mb RAM 210Mb HD, and 8Mhz ARM 2 processor running RISC OS 3.11. I'm looking to get in touch with other UK Netwinder users: mail me at
johnw@kechb.demon.co.uk