[IPython-dev] IPython for Mobile OS

Roberto Colistete Jr. roberto.colistete at gmail.com
Wed Nov 16 07:38:26 EST 2011


     Hi,

     It is my first post to ipython-dev. I am a theoretical physicist 
interested a lot in Python/IPython/SymPy/NumPy/MatPlotLib/etc. Both for 
desktop OS and mobile OS.

     About mobile OS (for smartphones/tablets), IPython is packaged, 
easy-to-install and works well in :

- Maemo 4 (Diablo) OS, e.g. on Nokia N800/N810, from 2008. Install 
IPython using the application manager. IPython 0.8.1 :
http://maemo.org/packages/view/ipython/

- Maemo 5 (Fremantle) OS on Nokia N900, released in 11/2009 and 
currently difficult to buy brand new. Install IPython using the 
application manager. IPython for Maemo 5 has 95 thousand downloads since 
2010, last version is 0.10 :
http://maemo.org/packages/view/ipython/
http://maemo.dadablog.net/AppStats.php?package=ipython&os=fremantle 
<http://maemo.dadablog.net/AppStats.php?package=ipython&os=fremantle>

- MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan OS on Nokia N9/N950, released in 2011, selling 
since September/October. IPython 0.10.2 .deb was recently released by me 
(as a maintainer) :
http://forum.meego.com/showthread.php?p=35031
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=79997

I will soon package and submit IPython 0.10.2 for Maemo 4 & 5. IPython 
0.11 is more difficult to package for Maemo/MeeGo due to its additional 
dependencies.

     I have searched and found that IPython for Android OS doesn't work 
(there is no libreadline). For iOS there is IPython only jail-breaking 
it (Cydia) and following some manual installation steps. No IPython for 
Symbian OS. Am I right ?

     So it seems that the only smartphone selling today with IPython 
support is Nokia N9 (MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan OS). The repositories for Nokia 
N9 :
http://harmattan-dev.nokia.com/unstable/beta3/Fremantle_Update7_vs_Harmattan_Beta3_content_comparison.html
shows about 170 Python packages !
     MeeGo Harmattan is also a developer's paradise, with more than 10 
programming languages available now (via "apt-get install" or already 
installed) : gcc/g++ (3.4, 4.2, 4.4), gfortran 4.4, gpc (GNU Pascal 
2.2), Lua 5.1, Perl 5.8, Prolog, Python 2.5/2.6/3.1, Ruby 1.8, TCL 
8.4/8.5, Vala 0.12, etc. Also Qt/C++, Qt/Qt Quick, Qt/Python (PySide).

     I have also packaged SymPy (a Computer Algebra System, which uses 
IPython) for Maemo 4, Maemo 5 and MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan :
http://forum.meego.com/showthread.php?t=4870
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=1119313
SymPy interactive shell has almost 15 thousand downloads for Maemo 5 in 
1 month and 1 week :
http://maemo.dadablog.net/AppStats.php?package=python-sympy-ui&os=fremantle
<http://maemo.dadablog.net/AppStats.php?package=python-sympy-ui&os=fremantle>
     So we can see that there is interest in Python/IPython for 
smartphones/tablets. It would be nice to have complete Python (with 
IPython, etc) distribution in powerful 2011/2012 dual and quad core 
tablets and smartphones (using Android OS, etc), like the Asus 
Transformer (Prime).

         Best regards from Brazil,

         Roberto



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