http://www.osnews.com/story/91/Interview_with_QNX_s_Paul_Leroux Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:24:25 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I like the looks of QNX and have been reading up on Realtime OS architecture and such, but I have to admit that I would be more interested if they include the flexibility of being able to add icons to the desktop and things like that. Actually from what I have heard this will be added soon. So that will be nice to see :-) Wed, 05 Sep 2001 02:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? QNX does not need icons on the desktop! That would clutter the desktop unnecessairly! Just use the shelf for your icons!

BTW, great interview! I enjoyed it alot Wed, 05 Sep 2001 03:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Does that mean that ext2 is supported as the root filesystem, or just accessible? Is it writable? How's the performance? Wed, 05 Sep 2001 03:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? QNX needs desktop icons, to make it more user friendly and complete. It is one thing I really find missing. Wed, 05 Sep 2001 04:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? i noticed the app Worldview running in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen shot. Does this come with QNX?

/me may dig out my QNX CD and resinstall, coz i use this on BeOS (Workspaces) all the time and even on Solaris (CDE) all the time as well.
As far as the desktop icons go, you can get around that by using your own directory of Symbolic Links until they build it in to the OS. Coz really all that desktop icons amount to is shortcuts (in the windows world) and symbolic links in the rest of the world.

cheers
peter Wed, 05 Sep 2001 05:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Yes, WorldView is exactly like BeOS' Workspaces. You can move the windows around as well etc. This application is coming as default on the new QNX 6.1.0 (released on 30th June), not to previous versions. So, I guess you will have to download the latest version... Wed, 05 Sep 2001 05:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Once again QSSL seems to have missed the point - in order to compete effectively with other Unix offerings, you gotta get the 3rd party manufacturers to commit to, and support, it. Having struggled with this problem on QNX2 & QNX4 for over 10 years, we are about to give up on QNX - none of our interface card suppliers are in the slightest bit interested in Neutrino! Wed, 05 Sep 2001 12:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? QSSL has NOT missed this point! It is one of (but only one of many of) the reasons for the "free for non-commercial use" version of QNX RTP.
The really short-sighted ones are the interface card suppliers who are "not in the slightest bit interested in Neutrino".
Working for a 3rd party manufacturer myself, I can attest to the fact that writing drivers for QNX (particularly Neutrino) is much easier than writing drivers for the other more "mainstream" OSes! And, surprise, surprise, it is easier to get full performance from high performance peripherals (and even not so high performance peripherals) under QNX.
I am sorry that your 3rd party manufacturers have put you in such a bind, but it is *their* short-sightedness, not QSSL's.
It is also the reason that QSSL is writing their own drivers for high demand peripherals (where the manufacturers are not so short sighted as as to deny QSSL access - even under NDA - to the information necessary to write those drivers)
I think that you may end up wasting a lot of "Learning Curve" time when you switch to another OS - even is it is Linux or another POSIX OS.
Is there any chance you can find an interface card supplier that does show some interest in supporting Neutrino? What kind of interface cards are you looking for, anyway?
In some cases, you may find it more cost effective to write your own drivers than switching OSes in midstream. Or get someone else to write them for you. All assuming, of course that the interface card manufacturers are willing to disclose the necessary details about the hardware (under NDA, of course!)
I understand your frustration, but you may need to "throw a little money" at the problem directly, rather than "throw a lot of wasted money" at the problem indirectly.
That is - pay what is necessary to get QNX drivers, rather than pay endlessly (in many different ways) for the waste generated by switching to an equivalent (if there is such a thing) or inferior OS.
I personally am not aware of any OS (that IS supported by the interface card suppliers, at least) that can match QNX6. Wed, 05 Sep 2001 14:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? You can add the worldview into the shelf in RTP 6 manually. Go to the shelf config and add a new module. Go throught the module names until you come to the one for world view (I can't remember the exact name but it is like worldvw.something). Then it will be on your shelf. There is a how-to page on the qnx website. Wed, 05 Sep 2001 15:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? ...that explains how to add the worldview app on RTP 6 (pre 6.1).

http://qdn.qnx.com/support/bok/solution.qnx?10039 Wed, 05 Sep 2001 15:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? My apologies to Steve@cormantech - I was forgetting the X25 Interface card we used. However, I think you are the exception rather than the rule [something to do with living next door to QSSL perhaps?]. It's that ol' chicken and egg problem... there is no doubt that, unless QSSL pushes Neutrino and DEMANDS manufacturer support for it at driver level, it ain't gonna happen! Three of our suppliers have stated that they will not/no longer support QNX4/Neutrino because there isn't sufficient demand to warrant it. If and when we do manage to get source code for, say, Solaris or Linux, and port it ourselves, the supplier will not support us. And, of course, if there are bug fixes and product upgrades, WE have to do it all over again! You want evidence? Ask Brooktrout! Wed, 05 Sep 2001 15:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Zigzag wrote:
"QNX needs desktop icons, to make it more user friendly and complete. It is one thing I really find missing."

I totally agree. Most of us can't (and won't) get back to Win3.11 days, sorry... Wed, 05 Sep 2001 17:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Apology accepted (not that I was really looking for one! 8-)

BTW if you call being 5 hours drive(on good highways)away being "next door", then I guess we are next door to QSSL.

I agree it is the chicken and egg problem, and am not blaming you for it. I don't think you can blame QSSL for it either! That is the main point I am trying to make.
If you think that QSSL can DEMAND support, why didn't you demand it? You (as a buyer of the product) probably carry more weight than QSSL (as an OS company) does. Actually, I bet you tried (nicely) to do just that! The point is that nobody (with the possible exception of the 800 lb. gorilla) can demand that the manufacturers do anything!
I think we will just have to wait for QNX6 to gain even more market acceptance before these short-sighted companies will change their tune. (More's the pity - for us and for them) Wed, 05 Sep 2001 21:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "I totally agree. Most of us can't (and won't) get back to Win3.11 days, sorry"

Dude. Just because you can not put icons on the desktop doesn't mean it's as bad as Windoze 3.1. You can put icons on the shelf. That is that area to the right and below the desktop. That is fully customizable. You can out icons, folders, etc there. Am I the only one who actually customizes the shelf? Wed, 05 Sep 2001 22:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? www.ann.lu ..Qnx on amiga. Thu, 06 Sep 2001 15:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I've every new release of the "free" desktop version. I think it's the worst GUI I've ever used. But it is damn fast, but then so is BeOS.

I wish I could use my TvCard,sound card and CD-Burner. And a better web browser woulnd't hurt, but I heard their getting Opera 5, so that'll do.

But until some real improvements are realized, I won't be using it. But I suppose QSSL doesn't care about me, as I am just a "home user" and have no interest in developing anything for them. Fri, 07 Sep 2001 01:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? yeah the UI is pretty bad but at least it is actively developed. Think of it as BeOS PR1. Not meant for the faint of heart. Hey if people didn't use PR1 back then, there wouldn't be BeOS 5 today Fri, 07 Sep 2001 12:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have to admit, the QNX GUI is pretty klunky. I don't like this shelf thing and I want desktop icons. But according to the FAQs, isn't it possible to use x-windows or QNXwindows anyway? I am just trying to figure out how to do that. Lol I haven't even figured out how to install stuff on QNX yet. Is a port of StarOffice available? Sun, 28 Oct 2001 03:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The QNX 1.44 Challenge Demo disk is supposedly the "feather
in the cap" of the entire QNX model, a modular microkernel
OS that you can build only the components into what you need
into an embedded system. Right? Its been splashed all
over the internet. Every news story I read about QNX starts
out talking about this proof of concept disk.

So theoretically an embedded developer shoudl easily be
able to replicate the efforts of this... proof of concept?
Because that's what an embedded developer would want to do,
boot QNX out of minimal storage, fire up a GUI, and have
their custom GUI interface APP launch.

~

I've installed QNX RP 6, connected it to the network, learned
about buildfiles and how to right an image out to disk...
and I can get a floppy to boot into QNX and dump me to a yucky
looking shellprompt. That's about as far as I've got
for sample build files to build an embedded OS using QNX.

So where do I find sample build files to do what was done
on the Challenge Disk? Namely, an image to fire up Photon, get a
Photon App running, and put it on a floppy or in an embedded
device. Without documentation or sample code I am still left
'imagining'.

Can anyone tell me where to find the build files and code
that was used to make the Challenge Disk? Now that the
source code has opened up, I'd like to see how this was done.

Show us how to build embedded GUI systems :-D someone. please.

~

As for ICONs on the desktop, let it be an option, but as a
default no, they are horrible, links should be on the task
bar or a shelf or powerbar... the desktop is only for
temporary work, ever since moving from Mac (where you do it
alot) to Windows (where you try to avoid it) to Linux Mandrake
8.1 (where they just get in the way of yoru pretty background),
I've pretty much come to the conclusion they are a BAD THING (tm)

I like the QNX Desktop, its elegant and well thoguht out.. the
taskbar seems to disappear when being updated, but otherwise
its aestetically pleasing and usable. Oddly, I find it more
comfortable then KDE2.

Mark :-D Wed, 07 Nov 2001 19:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments