http://www.osnews.com/story/106/Interview_with_Peter_Tattam_of_the_PetrOS_Project Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:26:17 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Why would they waste their time on a 32 bits, when everyone else is pushing for 64 bits? Oh well... good luck!!! Mon, 10 Sep 2001 12:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Maybe because the project started years ago, when there was no 64-bits Itanium available at the time? And also maybe becsause Intel plans to keep the 32bit x86 still available for sale for the next 4-5 years? Mon, 10 Sep 2001 13:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Good point I guess:-) Good luck with your trip to France and the wedding... break a leg! (or is that showbiz?) Well either way congrats or félicitations as they say in French!! Mon, 10 Sep 2001 13:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? this is a very promising project which i have been following for some time now. they seem to be working at the correct pace and have reasonable expectations. good luck and to hell with all the nay-sayers. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 13:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >Good luck with your trip to France and the wedding...

Thanks Mon, 10 Sep 2001 14:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Great Article, its really great that some one is thinking of a rock solid alternative or complement to Windows. You think Microsoft will let these guys survive. I hope so, and i would like to book a copy in advance. Hope you guys make it. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 14:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? For some reason it has become popular to bash Pascal. Well The C++ hype came and went, the Java hype came and went, and Object Pascal is still here working, getting the job done.
Well you can tell I am biased. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 14:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I don't know how pascal became a topic, but I'll add that pascal is a lot more human readable than C-based syntaxes. To make C legible you have to follow strict formatting rules so tabbing serves as the grouping guide. With begin and end, it's a lot easier to read without such tabbing rules. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 14:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The article mentions that they are writting their os in Object Pascal. They are using their own compiler but making sure they are compatible with Delphi/Kylix.
I thought it was cool that Pascal will get to show off how good it can be.
If you really want to be amazed go download Kylix for Linux. Its free to use if you only want to write GPL aps. The Borland Object Pascal compiler compiles at 4 million lines per second. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 15:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? what is the Qube desktop that was mentioned? I wondered if it was related to the Cobalt Cube, but it sounds like a description of something else. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 16:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Xanthoes, you should read this page more carefull. Some days before there was an article about Qube. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 16:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Why doesn't AOL fund the hell out of PetrOS, buy Gateway, and ship the AOL Gateway PC with built-in AOL? Pick a hardware configuration that complements PetrOS, and extend the AOL interface out to encompass the user's documents and local applications. The user could download pre-tested applications direct from AOL, guaranteeing that they work, and that they're virus-free (key selling point of the whole box, too). These are Windows and DOS apps, though, so it wouldn't take long for software developers to want to maintain both Microsoft and AOL compatibility with their Windows applications, and make AOL's testing very easy. It's enough these days for many users just to get a decent suite of apps with the box and just have some support for the box to patch itself. AOL can just buy the apps it needs for key tasks that home users want and include them. The advantage is that "porting" overhead is almost eliminated ... you just have to keep PetrOS' support of the Win32 API up-to-date.

You can make up for a lot of missing features with really heavy integration. A slow box with really good software integration can seem to be much faster than a really fast box with poor software holding you back at every turn.

This would also be a good way for Gateway themselves to stand out from the crowd. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 16:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The problem with Linux is that it's never going to take over the desktop unless it becomes 100% Windows compatible. Users (especially in a home and office environment) want to be able to switch from Windows to another OS with a minimum amount of fuss, and they want to be able to start using the new OS immediately. OS Initiatives like this is what is needed to provided a decent competitor to Microsoft.

Just make sure .NET doesn't catch you out! Mon, 10 Sep 2001 16:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "we just want to coexist, not supplant."

Does guy don't know about Jean-Louis Gassé. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 18:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Xanthoes: This is what Qube is. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 19:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? When will these companies ever learn that a desktop OS doesn't make financial sense??
FACT 1: Although windows isn't perfect, it's getting better and is fine for most people.
FACT 2: For the geeks that don't want to use windows (me included , there's always linux. Not ready for the average joe but great for developers.
FACT 3: People with special tasks (ie multimedia) chose systems like the MacOS or the late BeOS

There has to be some compelling reason for users to switch OSes. No user (aside from a handful of curious geeks) is going to say, "Yeah I'm gonna go through the hassle of switching OSes just so I can boot up 2 seconds faster and run all the apps I use now but with more problems!"

What's the point of running an OS that is exactly like windows? They will never achieve 100% application compatibility. Windows will always run its native applications with less problems.

Call me a naysayer if you want but I guarantee you that nothing significant will come out of this project. Programming a new OS would be highly interesting for the developers (I'm considering it myself) but expecting to make money from it is absurd.

To the guys at Trumpet, thx for Trumpet Winsock, it was the saviour on good old Win 3.1 but please reconsider this madness before the company is driven into the ground. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 20:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Why does anyone worry about Trumpet's financial health? After Win 95 included a TCP/IP stack, everyone thought Trumpet would go under. But somehow Peter is still here, coding up a storm. Why should you worry about his financial standing if he's not? Just let him code! And be happy that some people don't fret and just do what they want to do. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 20:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I am curious, how much code from the wine project did you review prior to coding? Mon, 10 Sep 2001 22:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I came to this article out of interest ( Trumpet Software is just over the river from me here in Hobart, so I better not be rude about them directly, lest I need a job one day... )

Someone here was hyping up Object Pascal and suggested the C++ hype has come and gone. Wake up !!! The biggest selling OS in the world is written in C and most of the programs it runs that people buy are in C++. C++ users grow in number every year, is this true of Pascal ( not people who learn it at school, people who *use* it ). Even the Trumpnet site basically says they use Pascal because they like it and it's *almost* as good as C++. Mon, 10 Sep 2001 23:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I'm proud of these guys - you've gotta have serious balls to write a Win32 compatible windowing system in *Pascal*. But what's the point? Why bother? At the end of the day, which would you rather use, Windows itself, or this?

I'm not saying the guys who wrote this didn't do a good job, it's just that nobody's going to use it! (Personally, I think your time would be better spent helping out with KDE or Gnome or something.) Good luck anyways. Tue, 11 Sep 2001 01:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "... Someone here was hyping up Object Pascal and suggested the C++ hype has come and gone. Wake up !!! The biggest selling OS in the world is written in C and most of the programs it runs that people buy are in C++. C++ users grow in number every year, is this true of Pascal ( not people who learn it at school, people who *use* it ). Even the Trumpnet site basically says they use Pascal because they like it and it's *almost* as good as C++ ..."

I've programmed extensively in both C++ and Delphi, and I can ensure you that the programming experience in Delphi was a lot more pleasurable to me than any experience I ever had in C++. You should try it before you slam it. Development speed in Delphi compared to C++ for an application with the same design is higher. Why? Mostly because Delphi comes with a COMPLETE set of object libraries, not just a template library and some header files wrapping around the OS services. (Granted, Visual C++ doen't do that bad in this respect either, but then Visual C++ isn't really C++, just some hideously deformed version of it.) And also because Delphi has just about the best IDE I ever came across. Having said that, I still program in C++, because there is no open source delphi compiler (there are object pascal compilers, but then you have to give up the superb object libraries).
The reason it's little used is because they don't teach it in schools, and people usually end up programming in the first language they were tought.

And now to get back on-topic. I find this PetrOS effort very laudable, but it'll never be able to take over a significant part of the desktop space, because it won't be able to run Office. Okay, so maybe it will, but never legally. MS already forbids in their licenses to run it on anything else than the intended operating system, so companies could never use this to run MS apps (and I suppose most MS supportive software makers, like adobe, will put identical claims in their licenses, if they're not in there already). The home desktop market is fine, but mostly irrelevant. It's the company desktop you need to conquer if you want to make sure that the server choice is guaranteed into the future. Tue, 11 Sep 2001 01:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Good luck guys, I admire those with skill to write OS's. I tried this about ten years ago, it ain't easy.
Why do people write OS's, probably the same reason people try to climb Everset or K2.
But how many times must the wheel be re-invented before you realise the wheel is still round!
I don't think the target audience is the Win or Linux users, MS is having trouble convincing its own users to upgrade.
I think it's the 5+ billion users that don't own a PC yet that should be targeted, those in schools and colleges, the uneducated!
Microsoft are from a predatory and ruthless background, they WILL protect that which is valuable and destroy or at best ignore that which is competition.

Good luck to PetrOS, a new OS that can run the thousands of apps already there, nice combo. Tue, 11 Sep 2001 02:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Heh have you seen the Internet Access charges that Trumpet's ISP levy in Tasmania?? heh. Dunno if they have changed recently but with a few hundred subscribers you could fund a small army of programmers

Thank god i live in the UK Tue, 11 Sep 2001 03:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? .....in creating a stable clone of Windows, if you are going to run buggy software (IE, Netscape, etc, etc) or bloatware on it? Tue, 11 Sep 2001 04:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? What I want is Windows cheap. I want to pay Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Cool! I think I will add this to my list of OSes to look at/install this week! Nice interview... Tue, 11 Sep 2001 14:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Local ISP's are dead in Hobart. They simply cannot afford to compete with the big boys and I don't know a single person who uses one. I doubt Trumpnet has terribly many subscribers. I think they invested the money from Winsock and are living off the interest, personally. Tue, 11 Sep 2001 18:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Whoever it was who is rubbishing pascal is pretty narrow minded.

Here at work we use Delphi to code some business software (which I'll leave unnamed to protect my job).

We recently signed a $50million initial contract deal and have previously signed up multiple 10s of millions of dollars in contracts and deals.

Delphi is a wonderful and powerful development environment, and object pascal is nicer to read than c or c++ actually.

just my $0.02 Tue, 11 Sep 2001 22:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? if you are going to run buggy software (IE,
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Since when is IE buggy? It's only the most stable browser on the market. Sheesh. Sat, 15 Sep 2001 07:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Joeri wrote:
"...because it won't be able to run Office. Okay, so maybe it will, but never legally. ..."

If M$ does get broken up, this may change -- and all of a sudden PetrOS becomes even more viable. Fri, 09 Nov 2001 17:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments