HP 50G vs. HP Prime

[Claudio L.]

(06-30-2016 08:52 PM)Vtile Wrote:  

(06-30-2016 12:14 AM)JDW Wrote:  But I see that NewRPL is being targeted exclusively at the 50G, as opposed to the Prime.

Quote: This project will develop the following concepts:

RPL execution environment: This module will be independent of the hardware, and provide the services needed to execute programs in the RPL language, such as compilation, memory management, garbage collection.
RPL language specifications: This module will define the keywords and syntax of the new language, numeric algorithms, data types, etc.

I personally interpret these as a theoretical possibility to migrate the OS (newRPL) to another hardware, plus both devices are running ARM based RISC processors. Although I'm not even an amateur what comes to this kind of computer / EE technology nor C-language. I also faintly remember of reading somewhere that Claudio responded to question newRPL to Prime as possible, but no manpower to do or so. So in that light I assume that in somepoint in time when newRPL is functioning on 50g someone will eventually try to port it to Prime.

So you hear it from the horse's mouth:
When HP announced the 50g was being discontinued I considered moving to the Prime hardware. However, the lack of information on the Prime was going to set the project back roughly a year or so (nobody else seems to be working on alternative firmware, despite the proof-of-concept that was published in late 2014 (or was it 2015?)). In the end I decided to stick with the 50g hardware for the time being, as we have it running already and making nice progress.
Also, I thought it's easier for people to buy a second 50g to try newRPL than buying a second Prime.
But if/when the 50g starts disappearing from the market we'll have to reconsider migrating to other hardware. I'm also paying close attention to the DM-42 project. If the hardware is able to run newRPL it could be an interesting platform, if anything to help support the only person that's designing new hardware nowadays.
newRPL is and remains highly portable, but it takes some work to port from one platform to another, which is better spent moving the project forward rather than going sideways from device to device.