WebOS is a pretty versatile Mobile Operating System and the folks at WebOS Internals have managed to run some Linux applications including OpenOffice on a Palm Pre!! It appears you can run X11 on the Palm Pre and this opens up many possibilities for WebOS users.
dtzWill and other WebOS Internals developers deserve all the credits for this hack. It pays off for Palm to have created a Linux-based OS!
Some instructions on how to use this hack have been given by Boraware @ PreCentral.
Keep in mind, this is not for beginners!
Here is the basics you need to know.
- Install Debian Chroot Environment (wiki available at webos-internals)
- Install X Server package from the preware testing feed
- Install Window Manger (not required, but very difficult to use without one)
- Modify X Server startup scripts to load Window Manger
- Use Debian environment to install new apps (google will help you there)
Here is a screenshot showing LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) running on a Palm Pre:
You can take a look at some additional screenshots and follow the thread @ http://forums.precentral.net/webos-internals/240926-x-server-pre.html#post2370725.
Now we can imagine that soon it will be possible to run many Linux applications on WebOS devices, it might give Palm more apps than Apple has for the iPhone ;)
You can see OpenOffice running on a Palm Pre in the following video:
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