BeOS-Inspired Haiku OS Continues Chugging Along With Driver Improvements, UI Changes

[phoronix]

Phoronix: BeOS-Inspired Haiku OS Continues Chugging Along With Driver Improvements, UI Changes

The open-source Haiku operating system that is still striving for compatibility with BeOS had another busy month...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Haiku-March-2018-Progress

[sireangelus]

let's say i want to find a use to this OS. what would that be? Can i do like load it on kvm and use it as an apache server?

[microcode]

let's say i want to find a use to this OS. what would that be? Can i do like load it on kvm and use it as an apache server?

Well, it wouldn't be that well suited for that. BeOS was originally conceived as a workstation/desktop operating system. Back in the day they tried to sell it as a multimedia operating system, and having used BeOS for some time through a strange course of events, I can say it was good at that. Today it'd be hard to find many compatible multimedia applications, and the hardware support is not the greatest.

Honestly, I don't know what motivates Haiku contributors, bless their giving hearts.

[Redfoxmoon]

let's say i want to find a use to this OS. what would that be? Can i do like load it on kvm and use it as an apache server?

You can use it as a desktop OS, works fine for such -- if you have compatible hardware:^)

[ElectricPrism]

You can use it as a desktop OS, works fine for such -- if you have compatible hardware:^)

I'm no brilliant strategist but you would think that "compatible hardware" would be the first strategic move to try to gather developers.

[Mercyful Fate]

Honestly, I don't know what motivates Haiku contributors, bless their giving hearts.

Yeah, I too have watched that project for a while now. I just don't see it gaining traction or mind-share. But what do I know - I've never used BeOS before so I'm certainly not an authority here. Maybe there's something special with Haiku that keeps the devs happily trying to move it forward.

[Vistaus]

Well, it wouldn't be that well suited for that. BeOS was originally conceived as a workstation/desktop operating system. Back in the day they tried to sell it as a multimedia operating system, and having used BeOS for some time through a strange course of events, I can say it was good at that. Today it'd be hard to find many compatible multimedia applications, and the hardware support is not the greatest.

Honestly, I don't know what motivates Haiku contributors, bless their giving hearts.

Hard to find compatible multimedia applications? All of the old BeOS apps still work and there's also Qt available so you can install any Qt (multimedia) app you want.

[Vistaus]

I'm no brilliant strategist but you would think that "compatible hardware" would be the first strategic move to try to gather developers.

That's exactly why you're right about being "no brilliant strategist" 'cause they *are* trying to gain better hardware support by having a layer that supports BSD drivers (kind of like ndiswrapper, but for all drivers). But it's a WIP, it's not easy to create something like that, esp. with only a couple of developers around.

[cb88]

Hard to find compatible multimedia applications? All of the old BeOS apps still work and there's also Qt available so you can install any Qt (multimedia) app you want.

And they are decidedly stuck in the 90's you won't be editing much 1080p or 4k footage with them.

If they want to get noticed they need to do *new* stuff.

Also you can't really be considered in much of the running among other operating systems if you don't have accelerated OpenGL and Vulkan that is an absolute must have.

[ermo]

Just installed the current version on an old C2D with an HD 6570 card. Lovely OS. Fluid and snappy, very pleasant UX. But then again, I've always been fascinated by BeOS's design and ethos. Will definitely use this on a regular basis from now on.