Beta Release Nears For BeOS-inspired Open Source OS Haiku (computerworld.com.au) 69
angry tapir writes: Just over 17 years since the project launched, and more than 18 years since the last release of the operating system that inspired it, the open source Haiku OS is nearing a beta release.
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It was ahead of its time. You should give it a try.
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Can I play Bioforge? (Score:4, Funny)
I just want to know if Haiku OS will have support for my Riva 128 and my Soundblaster 16.
Re: Can I play Bioforge? (Score:2)
It's open source and thus, by definition, supports whatever you want it to. Same thing we said when Linux came out.
https://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/... [haiku-os.org]
Looks like anything FreeBSD can do, Haiku can, with a little tweaking. So if your hw has FreeBSD drivers, you can mod them to Haiku. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, it's really no worse than writing mods for Minecraft.
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So, if I understand you correctly, it doesn't support anything.
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https://www.haiku-os.org/docs/... [haiku-os.org]
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So, if I understand you correctly, it doesn't support anything.
It doesn't support anything and it's not their fault. [dilbert.com]
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It's open source and thus, by definition, supports whatever you want it to.
No. It supports whatever you have the skill and the time to implement, and then maintain, which is not at all the same as whatever you want.
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Haiku's support of Nvidia cards is rudimentary (no graphics acceleration) and begins at NV4. However, I'm sure Riva 128 can do standard VESA graphics, so it should work fine. Bioforge requires no hardware accelerated graphics, so VESA isn't a problem.
Soundblaster 16 is supported. [haiku-os.org]
But for realz, if you want to play Bioforge, you should just run it using DOSBox.
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The problem with VESA on Nvidia cards is the shortage of wide screen support and the difficulty (or impossibly) of patching the BIOS to support wide screen modes, something that is relatively easy with ATI or Intel VESA modes. Other then that, todays CPU's can drive VESA pretty fast.
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What you are forgetting is that these cards are all SVGA output only. If the monitor accepts SVGA, it's going to handle the 3:4 aspect ratio just fine.
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It's still nice if you have a wide screen monitor such as 1680x1050 with a VGA port, to patch the BIOS to output 1680x1050.
Posted on an OS/2 system running on an old ATI card (though not as old as the ones you reference) using VESA and patched for 1680x1050.
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That is all completely irrelevant to the context of playing BioForge.
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No.
Re: Can I play Bioforge? (Score:2)
Just like BeOS, it suppodts VESA. It used to support some really obscure card, which I just so happened to have. Very happy day.
I still have a laptop in the attic wih BeOS on it. Cant aay the same for Windows os OS/2
Only three beta versions will be available. (Score:3)
Excellent news. (Score:3)
The OS market has shriveled over the years, research OS' aren't contributing much to the scene and the Big Three (Windows, Linux, NetBSD) are showing signs of stagnation.
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I love that someone with a UID as low as yours would actually include *BSD in a list called "Big Three".
How Slashdot has fallen...
AnonC, I slightly altered your Quote.
One one realizes that MacOS and iOS are kinda sorta BSD-ish behind the scenes, and that Android uses the Linux Kernel behind the scenes, one can be sure that those are indeed "The Big Three"
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
macOS is a certified UNIX: https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/apple.htm
Has been for more than a decade: https://slashdot.org/story/88375
Itâ(TM)s a FreeBSD variant, at least at the kernel level: https://www.apple.com/nz/osx/pdf/OSXYosemite_TO_FF1.pdf
(âoeThe OS X kernel is based on FreeBSD and Mach 3.0â). Has been from the start: https://youtu.be/Ko4V3G4NqII
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
NetBSD4EVA!
OK, maybe an âoffâ(TM) definition of âbigâ(TM), but if you need an OS for an odd box, NetBSD is the go-to, so itâ(TM)s an important project.
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
fing slashcode... imagine quotes where the garbage appears...
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
NetBSD is very popular for mailservers due to its stability and performance under load.
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
Well, the list wouldn't include FreeBSD or OpenBSD as they're not that popular, VxWorks and QNX are RTOS and outside scope, Android is Linux, Symbiant is dead, LynxOS is too specialized to be Big Three, CapROS is a research OS nobody uses, ditto for Inferno, Open Solaris barely exists, IRIX is dead, Minix is a research OS, I'm running out of names.
We can exclude SEL4, HURD, SunOS, OSF/1. HP/UX is unlikely to be on as many installs as NetBSD. EROS is extinct. eCos seems to be also. Sugar isn't an OS and seem
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
VMS still has a hobbyist license program, at least. Iâ(TM)ve got it up both in emulation and on real HW (DS 10). Really a great system, actually, and still shows how security should be done in some respects. The actual crypto may be a bit out of date, but the model is solid fir a multiuser system.
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Vax mail had a bug, whereby you could put shell script in the subject line.
Otherwise, yes, it was a great system. I think it was rated B2 on security.
Re: Excellent news. (Score:2)
Minix is used by Intel's AMT so hardly a hobby OS, and consequently probably more widely deployed than Linux.
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Can't wait (Score:2)
Rather than beep
Or a rude error message:
These words: "File Not Found".
Errors have occurred.
We won't tell you where or why -
Lazy programmers!
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot
Order will return.
For a new PC,
Center of my universe,
I abandon all.
The code was willing!
It considered your request,
But the chips were weak.
Everything is gone.
Your life's work has been destroyed.
Squeeze trigger? (yes/no)
A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
No keyboard present
Hit F1 to continue
Zen engine
Re: Can't wait (Score:2)
Very good, but there are purists around. Can you add a verse with a flower and a season?
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There are a few with nature references:
You step in the stream,
but the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
A crash reduces
your expensive computer
to a simple stone.
Others here: https://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/error-haiku [gnu.org]
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BeOS was way ahead of its time .. (Score:4, Informative)
Microsoft Settles Anti-Trust Charges with Be [internetnews.com]
Microsoft Litigation [groklaw.net]
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Re: BeOS was way ahead of its time .. (Score:1)
BeOS multitasked like nothing else. Windows would be choking, Linux would be choking, BeOS would be chugging along.
If a new BeOS came about with 20 years of CPU improvements and 20 years of philosophical improvements over the 90s, it could be a powerhouse for general computing. Being fully integrated with a gui unlike Linux could really mean big gains.
Really? Ex BeOS fan, here. (Score:5, Insightful)
I loved BeOS. Fuck it, I still love it - still the ONLY OS that completely prioritizes the user. When you interact with the OS you can feel it actually listens to you. None of that "wait, I got a huge file to copy, but I'll be with you in a few seconds". No, BeOS has interaction with the user as it's highest priority. AFAIK it is a near-real time OS, which helps with media processing and replay. Also, extremely low latencies, useful for MIDI sequencers and softsynths.
But I wasn't really happy with what Haiku-OS was doing. The team was working not to create the main working skeleton of BeOS, but rather some ancillary projects like package management. BeOS did not have a package manager. Sure, that's not nice but all I wanted is to at least get to the point of readiness of BeOS, not shoot for the moon.
And because of decisions like that, after 17 years we're only at a Beta stage. Sad.
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I loved BeOS. Fuck it, I still love it - still the ONLY OS that completely prioritizes the user. When you interact with the OS you can feel it actually listens to you. None of that "wait, I got a huge file to copy, but I'll be with you in a few seconds". No, BeOS has interaction with the user as it's highest priority. AFAIK it is a near-real time OS, which helps with media processing and replay. Also, extremely low latencies, useful for MIDI sequencers and softsynths.
But I wasn't really happy with what Haiku-OS was doing. The team was working not to create the main working skeleton of BeOS, but rather some ancillary projects like package management. BeOS did not have a package manager. Sure, that's not nice but all I wanted is to at least get to the point of readiness of BeOS, not shoot for the moon.
And because of decisions like that, after 17 years we're only at a Beta stage. Sad.
While PM delayed things, Haiku now has a wide selection of ports including QT apps helping to solve the "no software at launch" issue. Joy. (Who says "Sad." really?)
https://twitter.com/kallisti5/status/1038451101526384640
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BeOS _did_ have a software manager - Be purchased Starcode's "Software Valet" and included that with BeOS.
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Re:Really? Ex BeOS fan, here. (Score:5, Informative)
True all that. I remember putting it on a Power Macintosh 8600 or 7500 I had access to and watching the windows redraw and play video files while moving them around on the screen was mind-boggling. The same task on Windows and Mac OS 8 or 9 at the time was enough to drop the machine to its knees. It was amazing.
Hardware Support (asking for Lain Iwakura) (Score:2)