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OpenMoko : Apps portal , is there a chance for medical linux mobile apps ?!

10.16.2009 · Posted in Articles, Linux, Smart Phones

OpenMoko is a Linux mobile device , which uses linux as his official operating system , its also a geeks mobile for who does not know that , can change the operating system with no restriction , installing another linux distro or even Android !

with linux comes the power of package management , or Add and remove programs from online repositories and mirrors . what is amazing about Linux Package management is checking for updates , new release and notify the user if he needs to update some package , files or apps .
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OpenMoko has lunched a software directory for the apps those supported by Openmoko phones , so far it contains some categories for the active apps submitted there , however there is no scientific applications or medical ones .

installing packages is pretty easy , either downloading from source or installing using Openmoko package manager , which make it very easy and simple way to install and keep update the packages !

Why there is No much apps yet ?

well in my opinion there are 3 reasons so far :

1-Limited number of medical and health care users .
Openmoko itself has very limited users base , also its not the favorite handheld by doctors even the geek doctors or who are using linux as their primary OS !

2-Market demands :
Market now require simplicity , and Openmoko ain’t that simple for simple users , especially doctors who are looking to save their time .

3-Competitions :
iPhone , Windows mobile devices and the new Palm WebOS , are the competitors , especially when iPhone is getting popular day after day and Windows mobile has a very good history in medical Apps and health care users usage with experience as well , and the new Palm WebOS which i personally believe will exceed the expectations in matter of months .

Conclusion :
Openmoko may be not the favorite or even the good option for doctor but at least it provides the proper support for Open-sourcing the medical and health care handheld applications which will lead to more freedom , so as far as linux people are concern about freedom i believe all what Openmoko is more support !!!

About the author

Hamza Emadeen Mousa wrote 474 articles on this blog.

A Computer Geek self-thought , Free Styler designer and Developer . An open source Kid , a blogger who has been playing ( geeking ) around computers since the 90s . This kid happened to be a Doctor .

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