I ported khtml because at the time, it was much easier to port than a full suite like Mozilla/Firefox. Many kernel features and GUI features were missing, so khtml was the only option to get a good rendering engine. However, SkyOS now has all the requirements to port really great browsers like Firefox and Opera. We really hope that these companies consider porting their software. We would be glad to make the first one to port their browser the "official" browser that is included with SkyOS.
Which other browser resembles SkyKruzer the most?
I really can't think of one. It’s quite a simple browser; it doesn't really resemble any one-other browser in particular.
Well, sounds like Net+ to me :). So far, there is no email-application available for SkyOS, but this does seem like a vital application to me. Is one on the to-do list? And, to double that question, what about an IM-client?
Both applications are on the to-do list and will be available for SkyOS 5.0.
Will there be means of updating SkyOS through the Internet, as in Windows Update?
Yes, absolutely. I'm not sure if this feature will make it into 5.0 final, but it is definitely something that will be included somewhere down the line.
What other native applications are on the to-do list?
Currently in progress are a Contact Manager, Paint application, and a few minor applications coded by the SkyOS community. We are also in talks with a few 3rd party developers to see if they would be interested in making their software available on SkyOS.
And now, I’d like to move on to some issues being brought up on forums on the net. Let’s start with the touchiest subject: the licensing-issue. You already made very, very clear to everyone that no
Well, I won't get my hopes up about it being once and for all. At any rate, here is the list of every non-SkyOS native piece of code we use:
libraries: freetype, atk, expat, ffmpeg, fribidi, glade, glib, gtk, khtml, libart, libdvdcss, libungif, libiconv, libjpeg, libpng, sdl, libxml, mad, mesa, pango, pop, regex, termcap, zlib
apps: abiword, apache, bash, bin86, binutils, bochs, coreutils, d2x, dosfstools, dotgnu, dxf2gl, e2fsprogs, ftp, gcc, gdb, gimp, grub, hp, httpd, inetutils, less, links, lynx, make, mpg123, ott, perl, quake, quake2, samba, telnetd, vlc, wabavm, xine, zsnes.
kernel modules: SkyFS port of OpenBFS.
All of these are either GPL, LGPL, BSD, or MIT licensed.
I hope this finally settles the issue, but I agree with you, it probably won't. You already revealed that there will be some-sort of Live-CD available, for free, so that people can test SkyOS before buying it. Also, this live-CD will be limited in one way or another. Have you decided yet on what features will be removed/disabled/limited etc.?
Obviously you will not be able to install SkyOS to a hard drive with the LiveCD. The LiveCD will also be limited in what applications are offered. Some of the larger applications will be missing (such as Quake I/II, possibly the GTK apps, etc.). This is more to save people the time of downloading, as these apps make up about 2/3rds of the space on the SkyOS download.
The point of the LiveCD is to give people a taste of what SkyOS is; what the environment is like, what it is capable of. It’s just a sampling, something to let people decide if SkyOS is something that they would like to pursue further.
How are you planning to distribute SkyOS v5.0 final? Kelly (SkyOS’ Business Manager) revealed in the SkyOS forum that “we intend to make SkyOS available to businesses who would like to offer it as the default operating system on their computers.” Source. Could you be a bit more specific?
We are investigating a number of options. We do want to make SkyOS available to smaller businesses at a substantially discounted price. Any licensed businesses that would be interested in this are welcome to contact us (sales@skyos.org) to find out more.
As far as end-users are concerned, sales will initially be conducted via our website (which will see a major overhaul in the coming months). Sales will be similar to what we have set up now, with the notable exception that we are going to do our best to allow users to purchase with credit cards as well.
If you have been following the SkyOS forums or polls, you will have noticed that we are trying to gauge the interest from our users in purchasing computers with SkyOS pre-installed on them. These computers would be around $600 (specs available here), and sales would be handled via the website. We are still undecided if we will be pursuing this option. It depends if there is enough interest to warrant the amount of work this would bring.
In the future we of course would like to see SkyOS on retail shelves, and will be pursuing this option as soon as it becomes viable. We also would like to see some of the major computer manufacturers offer SkyOS as an option, but that of course is looking into the future quite a bit.
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