http://www.osnews.com/story/16640/SkyOS_Gets_Virtual_Filesystem Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:05:30 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?188486 http://osnews.com/thread?188486 This is insane, I'm going to have to buy a copy of this OS just for the fact of supporting the guy. These guys seem to be adding a new feature every week! Keep it up! Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tbcpp) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188488 http://osnews.com/thread?188488 It's good to see innovation happening in a small hobby OS. Kind of puts Microsoft and their failed WinFS in perspective.

BTW, '...reboot) and and when...' Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188494 http://osnews.com/thread?188494 I'm confused... There are so many people working on the Linux kernel, and many more working on X, KDE, GNOME, etc. - and yet, Robert and his team of like 5 people seem to be adding way more exciting features of SkyOS.

SkyOS now has so many device drivers, cool UI, applications that work consistently. How is this possible? Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Dima) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188499 http://osnews.com/thread?188499 Focus and no worries over politics.Edited 2006-12-05 23:15 Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188510 http://osnews.com/thread?188510 It's a designed system, not people trying to make highly portable components or cobbling together these portable components. Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mmebane) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188511 http://osnews.com/thread?188511 Passion...and skill...

Another explanation might be that Robert is many ^_^
(like Shakespeare is rumoured to be)

In fact the "Robert" name hides an army of little leprechauns that works diligently at night when everyone is asleep to bring software goodness to SkyOs

Personnaly, I really hope it goes on forever like this (but I guess that at some point some bitter fellow will phone the Association of Defense of Leprechauns rights and tell them about how he abuse them

(At the pace SkyOS get features, I would bet that they work all day for no fee and that they only get 1 minute break every week to go pee and 20 minutes at christmas to go and visit their families)Edited 2006-12-05 23:51 Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Lakedaemon) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188515 http://osnews.com/thread?188515 That's the best way to move and grow!

Politics ruins everything. Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ronaldst) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188517 http://osnews.com/thread?188517 Politics ruins everything.

SkyOS is basically a dictatorship. Annoying at times, but darn productive. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188520 http://osnews.com/thread?188520 Focus and no worries over politics.

no worries over politics?
the political situation in austria is a real mess right now. even if robert is not worried about it, he probably is pissed off about the spö/övp disaster... Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (smashIt) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188523 http://osnews.com/thread?188523 That's politics in large project or an open source development enviroment, not politics in his home country. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zizban) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188524 http://osnews.com/thread?188524 "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Winston Churchill Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188529 http://osnews.com/thread?188529 Nice quote

Yes, having a leader that controls everything keeps the pace up. It's quite refreshing.

I really need to buy a copy. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188533 http://osnews.com/thread?188533 The best argument for democracy is you get what you deserve. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TerryADavis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188542 http://osnews.com/thread?188542 "Personnaly, I really hope it goes on forever like this..."

Well I'll say one thing: there's definitely at least one big reason in the books for this development (tentatively, anyway). Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kelly Rush) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188549 http://osnews.com/thread?188549 sounds like it has something in common with CDWrite
http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/cdwrite.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zhulien) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188551 http://osnews.com/thread?188551 Way more features? I hardly think so.

Each of the projects you cited have only a small handful of core committers that make major architectural decisions with many others contributing small improvements and bug fixes. This is the way most Open Source projects are.

So, it's not that unusual that a single person can make so much progress, and this especially so when most of the hard research work has been done for you. Lets be honest, SkyOS isn't breaking any new ground here. It's just yet another operating system with a process scheduler, memory management and a filesystem. Hell, it claims to use a POSIX API so it's already half way to being yet another UNIX.

Not much else can be said about its design since nobody other than its creator knows anything about such details. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rajj) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188571 http://osnews.com/thread?188571 For this os could very well be frankenstein's os as much of its base are from other os's. Still, im not going to hold that against it as it just shows the power of open source.Browser: SonyEricssonZ710i/R1EF Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (hobgoblin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188601 http://osnews.com/thread?188601 This discussion has occured many times before (with the same result every time), please take up any issues you have with the SkyOS team. You can do so in the forums or in the IRC channel. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (GregV) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188610 http://osnews.com/thread?188610 The lead coder on SkyOS makes a lot of progress in a very short period of time. I think he has serious dedication to be working on a project like SkyOS when its obvious he could be putting his coding talents elsewhere and making a *lot* of money. I know I'd charge out the wazoo if I could pump out stable and working code at the demonic pace he does.

It's great to watch SkyOS grow: its kind of like watching a single-celled organism evolve into a human -- oops, er, sorry, "mindless ape."

Really, really good stuff here. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (betson) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188645 http://osnews.com/thread?188645 this project was open-sourced!

But still; It's amazing to see the speed at which they add features.

Good Job! Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mcduck) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188715 http://osnews.com/thread?188715 I wouldn't call it a dictatorship; what I would call it is a small group of very skilled programmers who have layed out the direction in where they're heading; rather than throwing things at a problem and seeing what sticks; they see a problem, sit down, write a white paper, design it, and then implement it.

The problem with the Linux world, there are some good ideas (ALSA), but at the same time time there are situations where things are just abandoned - Rhythmbox and Pan Usenet Client being two prime examples of abandonware. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188728 http://osnews.com/thread?188728 Haha. that explains why the American developers have such a hard time getting any work done. :p Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188755 http://osnews.com/thread?188755 Eh the thread was going good and until there was a post about open sourcing this...why do they have to open source it? THey are not writign it for you you know. They are doing it because of their passion and dedication for the project. Many people are quite happy with the closed source model. THey pay the os authors get a copy and off they go to enjoy the os's features. What is so wrong with not being open sourced? Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (suryad) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188756 http://osnews.com/thread?188756 i'm too amazed by the pace and amount of work done by Robert, but can you please elaborate, how is a virtual filesystem something new or innovative?
virtual filesystems are a common thing in unix, linux, windows, etc. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kamil_chatrnuch) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188771 http://osnews.com/thread?188771 "What is so wrong with not being open sourced?"

Nothing is wrong with it not being open sourced. That's just a "saying" these days. "Wow, the only thing that could make that better is to 'Open Source' it!"

I am going to start using that phrase for everything. "Gee honey! This was the best meal ever. The only thing that could make it better is if you open source it!" Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Tuishimi) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188774 http://osnews.com/thread?188774 Heinz Open Sauce. 5,000,000 varieties Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188787 http://osnews.com/thread?188787 ... What is so wrong with not being open sourced?

IMO there is nothing wrong with not being open source. Closed standards on the other hand are bad!

Personally I'll not go back to closed source. I've learned my lessons coming from Amiga and then Windows. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Hans) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188791 http://osnews.com/thread?188791 Alternatively, "Gee honey! This was the best meal ever. The only thing that could make it better is if you outsource it!" Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (korpenkraxar) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188795 http://osnews.com/thread?188795 No thank you. I want to live at home! Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Tuishimi) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188800 http://osnews.com/thread?188800 Linux's problem is, it's kind of rhetorically a bowl of soup with hundred chefs.

Robert does his decisions alone and/or inside tiny group of chosen few...that way decisions are made fast when every change to the code doesnt have to go through 900 others. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kishe) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188815 http://osnews.com/thread?188815 You're right, SkyOS doesn't tread new ground. A responsive system under heavy loads, a nice clean API, advanced feature integration (like using a browser or videoplayer as a widget) and user-friendlyness aren't new.

If only anything on Linux came even close though.. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ronald Vos) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188822 http://osnews.com/thread?188822 I feel they should release at least a 30 days trial version. I'm not going to pay for something that i can't make sure it works on my PC. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kwanbis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188836 http://osnews.com/thread?188836 for all we know, there WILL be a trial of some sort once it goes gold. lik, say, a liveCD version or some such. right now its still in beta, so they have no need to put extra effort into a trial version.Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 95; PalmSource; Blazer 3.0) 16;160x160 Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188890 http://osnews.com/thread?188890 you are right, NOTHING on linux comes close to it, this is why kde isnt responsive under load, it doesent have a good api either, and certainly not good integration with kparts (widgets) that can be embedded, its not userfriendly either, you must give all commands to it in simplified chinese, written as raw bits on a special keyboard only featuring a 0 and 1 button

oh wait, i forgot, kde really does have all this, and oh wait, it also runs on linux. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Redeeman) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188893 http://osnews.com/thread?188893 As someone pretty close to this project: you're dead on. Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Alex Forster) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188978 http://osnews.com/thread?188978 yes, but how long has it been in beta? Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kwanbis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?188983 http://osnews.com/thread?188983 Who says there won't be a LiveCD before it matures past beta... Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kelly Rush) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189023 http://osnews.com/thread?189023 i'm just asking for a test cd ... it looks really cool, but it's imposible to test ... maybe if they had a beta live cd, i would test it, and then buy the beta. Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kwanbis) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189024 http://osnews.com/thread?189024 This is not an innovation. "Branching", more usally called "union mount", is a well known concept. Using it to implement LiveCD is a commonplace. Actually, union mount was available in the system as old as 4.4 BSD!

See http://www.am-utils.org/project-unionfs.html for an implementation of this idea for Linux. Its homepage lists 30 Linux LiveCD projects already using it. Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (saxiyn) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189056 http://osnews.com/thread?189056 Alright, come on guys. Linux does some things nice, some things not. SkyOS is the same way. Everything has its nuances. It shouldn't be a battle; Linux should take ideas from SkyOS to make itself better, and vice-versa. I actually last week installed Ubuntu (first time using Linux in about three years), just because I had heard great things about it, to see if I could come up with any new ideas for Robert to try. I've seen a lot of cool things, and a lot of things that could be improved. The same holds true for SkyOS, MacOS X, and even Windows XP (all of which I use on a regular basis (read at least once a day)).

With many and varying choices for systems to use, there should be no losers; the only winners, in the end, should be the consumers, who are able to pick from many options and find the one that suits them best.

\Message posted from Ubuntu Linux, but it just as easily could have been SkyOS, MacOS X, or Windows XP. Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kelly Rush) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189058 http://osnews.com/thread?189058 To be perfectly honest, SkyOS just isn't at a state at present where having a LiveCD would give any sort of a meaningful experience with the system. A LiveCD has been a very popular request, and while certainly the BranchFS that has just been implemented is a step towards this goal, the simple fact of the matter is that other parts of the system need to mature a bit more before we are ready to make it available, "en masse".

But don't worry, we're listening... Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kelly Rush) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189069 http://osnews.com/thread?189069 That's first thing I thought of.

It's slightly annoying that Robert renames an existing technology. Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mikesum32) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?189076 http://osnews.com/thread?189076 I don't think Robert ever claimed to have "invented" this idea...

Additionally, it's just a name, a way for us to refer to this technology as it is presented in SkyOS. There are thousands of different processes and sub-systems in SkyOS, and naming them something unique is a good way of keeping them straight. Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kelly Rush) Comments