Well.. let me tell u...
I've got a zaurus some days ago
(actually a week or so
)... and I've installed pdaXrom so I can share my experience with you....
---- MY PERSONAL OPINION FOLLOW.. THIS IS NOT THE ULTIMATE TRUTH ----
I installed pdaxrom since it's based on X...
(cacko, Sharp OS, and most roms are based on Qtopia
)... I'm a developer
(sort of
) so I really need X to be there, it's the standard for desktop GUI environments and applications...
Before the Zaurus, I had some linux experience with Redhat for a day or so.. and given it was so easy I inmediatly switched to Debian... I must admit Debian was challenging for me... but I love challenge, so I fell in love with Debian...
With pdaxrom was the same... IS WAY harder than cacko
(as far as I've compared and shared experiences with cmonex
)... but it gives me more satisfaction
(and more frustration too
)... Sometimes isn't as great as it may sound... by example, movie playback seems to be way faster on cacko than on pdaxrom....
PIM apps available for pdaxrom takes half of your disk space xD
(like the "latest" kdepim package that uses "only" 44MB
).. Since most packages are desktop apps directly compiled for the Zaurus with no changes, there's lot of bloat,
tons of libraries to install... and a lot of hand-compiling to do if you want better/faster/smaller software....
(Ive compiles some packages and it's not funny to see compilation fail after two hours because you ran out of storage or your frikin system lacks of a library
)..
It has some good things like using the same apps you use on your desktop right in your hand anywhere... It's really like converting the zaurus in a mini debian-like workstation...
But same as cmonex, I would recommend you cacko... seems like you'll get more satisfaction than frustration, you'll get a quite stable and solid system
(because of messing with pdaxrom, modules and drivers I've needed to reinstall the whole OS and apps at least 5 times.. sometimes by small details, but I like things being "perfect"
Quick Comparison
---------------------------
Bluetooth: Out of the box with Cacko... Need to install additional modules, libs and utilities in pdaxrom
Wifi: Out of the box with cacko... Untested by me on pdaxrom...
Office: Hancom Office suite with cacko... abiword and xpdf with pdaxrom
(no spreadsheet
) You can install some made_by_a_user openoffice compilation but will take a HUGE amount of storage space and seems to run slow....
PIM: integrated with cacko..... None with pdaxrom, you can install kdepim
(latest version is 44MB or so once installed but I managed to get a really old version that "works" and uses about 6-10MB
)
Internet: Netfront and opera with cacko.... pdaxrom comes with Dillo.. additionally you can install Opera and firefox but I've heard that firefox runs slow...
"So? what's good in pdaxrom?! everything you just said make it look like the worse distro ever made!!!!"
Well... the good part is that you get a whole X-based system, so you can get
(with some compiling skills and sometimes a bit of tweaking, patience, and lot of work
) almost any available linux app working
(as long as u have enough space in the zaurus.. desktop apps aren't as lightweight as specially-designed-for-pda apps
(like those in cacko and other roms
). Qtopia is a whole different world.... I like to have my old well-known linux apps that I used on my desktop right on the palm of my hand... even when that means wresting with modules, libraries and console commands most of time
Conclusion: Are u a linux geek
(so-called mazochists
)? go for pdaxrom... otherwise the best choice is Cacko. =
)