If you don't know what a digitising tablet is, you probably don't need it either. Nonetheless, a typical application is to convert hardcopy maps into electronic format by tracing the contour lines, roads, hydrography, settlements and other features and saving them electronically in machine-readable form. To our knowledge and to our surprise, not many vendors in this category offer their product with Linux support. So far no differing behaviour of the DrawingBoard III has been reported. What follows now will be updated as soon as I get more clever and experienced.
All feedback is welcome.
I really hope this very paragraph you are just reading will change too. Listen CalComp, help me to develop a device driver and then cash in on the Linux GIS-ers. As the TXD line is only needed in case you want to configure the board from software, for as simple an operation as digitising a map you can do very well without it. The easiest way to get rid of the TXD line is to prepare a cable that misses this connection. Preparing a cable was a matter of an hour, though - dwelling into serial programming will be more of an undertaking.