BeOS-Inspired Haiku Making Progress On ARM, Various Kernel Improvements

[Vistaus]

BeOS had an X11 port. No patches really needed, so it probably can be built on Haiku. Might have to try an older XFree86 version though.

Thanks a lot, I will keep that in mind!

[edwaleni]

I saw one of their original demos, on that hardware.

I bought the last version of BeOS for x86 and ran it on a quad-CPU Pentium Pro. It was awesome, for the time - the most responsive multitasking experience I ever had, 'till then. IIRC, it had a bash shell and could even mount my ext2 filesystems.

Yes. I ran BeOS on an IBM workstation with the first "overdrive" upgrade they came out with. Then on a Compaq Deskpro Pentium II. I tried to run it on a IBM dual Pentium III workstation, but it kept hanging on something and Be was RIP by then. Seems the APIC had changed just enough to keep BeOS from booting. After that I put it away.

I agree on the responsive desktop. But I have lost all of those custom "BeBits" I acquired during its life. There was a somewhat healthy dev community out there creating cool widgets. That is another thing I miss about it.

It never reached a level that Linux enjoys today but many were very functional.

There is still a story about Virtual PC after they were bought by MSFT. MSFT was bragging about how *Any* x86 OS could boot inside VPC. Someone asked "what about BeOS?" At the time it couldn't. After many months of testing they still couldn't.
The new VPC product manager said some unkind words about it.

[coder]

The original BeBox with BeOS was a dual socket Power 603-66 and they showed a 4 socket model privately. (it was later ported to the PowerMac)

I saw one of their original demos, on that hardware.

I bought the last version of BeOS for x86 and ran it on a quad-CPU Pentium Pro. It was awesome, for the time - the most responsive multitasking experience I ever had, 'till then. IIRC, it had a bash shell and could even mount my ext2 filesystems.

[coder]

macOS is semi-mainstream on Desktop Planet and pretty much absent on Server Planet.

Apple built a rackmount Mac server, like 10 years ago. I don't think they ever followed it up, though.

[tuxd3v]

I wonder if Haiku will bring along any of its BeOS Power platform roots?

I would love to see it in this Power Laptop..

https://www.powerpc-notebook.org/category/news/

[digitalsin]

Now if only there was something like an X server implementation for Haiku like there is for e.g. AmigaOS 4, then I'd switch to Haiku full-time because there two X-dependent apps I can't live without.

BeOS had an X11 port. No patches really needed, so it probably can be built on Haiku. Might have to try an older XFree86 version though.

[sjukfan]

I wonder if Haiku will bring along any of its BeOS Power platform roots?

There were an "unsupported powerpc build" a few years back, but the page is empty now https://download.haiku-os.org/nightly-images/ppc/ According to Wayback machine they stopped around r42762.

[Vistaus]

Thinking about it. They probably have a better chance getting done before X is replaced with wayland!

Now if only there was something like an X server implementation for Haiku like there is for e.g. AmigaOS 4, then I'd switch to Haiku full-time because there two X-dependent apps I can't live without.

[Vistaus]

I think Linux and MacOS are large enough and dominant in certain markets that they could be called mainstream, but yes Windows is really the 'culture' of IT these days and I love dabbling with the alternatives even if they don't end up replacing my workhorse.

Linux is mainstream on Server Planet, but not so much on Desktop Planet. macOS is semi-mainstream on Desktop Planet and pretty much absent on Server Planet.

[edwaleni]

I wonder if Haiku will bring along any of its BeOS Power platform roots?

The original BeBox with BeOS was a dual socket Power 603-66 and they showed a 4 socket model privately. (it was later ported to the PowerMac)

Can you see a dual socket Raptor Talos running Haiku? Just curious.

It would be an interesting product coming full circle.