Linux on a Compaq Contura Aero!

Left: HP 200LX

There have been many greats in the palmtop/subnotebook/ultralight world. The Toshiba Libretto, with its videocassette footprint, was one. The HP 200LX was another, with its extensive DOS compatibility and twenty-plus hour lifespan on two double AA batteries. The IBM Thinkpad X series, with their tiny size yet superior power, and, of course, OpenBSD compatibility, as the machines most compatible with this
operating system, was another. The svelte NEC Ultralite, the first of the "notebooks", also was one, as it was on the first of these tiny laptops. However, like the NEC, one of the first "notebooks," perhaps on of the first inexpensive, color, Windows ones, was the Compaq Contura Aero. Though a 25-33 MHz 486 :P, the Aero is very thin and light for a notebook. It has a teeny VGA screen that is usually color but may be grayscale. And, even better, it will run Linux! Slackware, Debian, and (early?) versions of RedHat, apparently. Also early versions of NetBSD (1.5.2, etc.) may work. I don't know exactly what the compatibility is, but I think NetBSD would likely run it. Here are some sites with more information:

http://www.alvestrand.no/linux/aero-faq.html#TOC

FAQ on Aero Linux (Slackware)

http://hamsterrepublic.com/james/linux/contura-aero.php

More stuff on installing Linux (Debian) on the Aero. Also some basic facts on the Contura Aero.
Here is a picture from the site comparing a Thinkpad 600, JetBook, and a Contura Aero:


















http://www.xmission.com/~bgeer/laptop_aero.html
An experience of installing RedHat on an Aero.

The Return

I'll begin intensely (hopefully) blogging again tommorrow. I have gotten through four exams at school and have one to go, in Geometry. Things are going well, and I still working with my NetBSD machine. I think I may upgrade it 3.0.1. I am also continuing to use gcc. I also may get a Toshiba Libretto or HP 200LX for Christmas, so I will tell you about that if I get it. As for Harry, he is doing well, and, in fact, has installed iPodlinux on his 5G iPod. He is happily playing DOOM on it today. I still use SDF, although I have started to use it more recently. In fact, I am logged in as guofu right now. Overall, everything is well. I look forward to more posting. Maybe Harry will talk a little bit about his iPod, too.

xatapu

Notice

I am so sorry for not updating the blog in so long. But I will be able to soon. Unfortunately over the next week and a half, I will have to prepare for and take final semester exams at school. This will hamper my blogging and Harry's. I will have a couple of articles today, but probably not many until winter break. Just remember this when you see little updating on the blog. Hopefully I will find sometime later to keep posting.

Sincerely,
xatapu