Kaj de Vos made two big announcements at SylCon 2007. The first was a new web browser, based on a port of WebKit. The second is Syllable Server, which will bring together the Syllable GUI with the Linux kernel to create a server operating system that compliments Syllable on the desktop. Syllable Server is not based on any existing Linux distribution and will look and feel as much like Syllable as possible.
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Member since:2005-07-06
We will not be dropping the Syllable Desktop kernel for Linux. Syllable Server is a complement to Syllable Desktop, not a replacement. The Syllable kernel is great for desktop users, Linux is great for servers. The inverse is not true.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2007-05-28
Member since:2005-07-08
They clearly state in the story why they are not so motivated in abandoning Atheos core and choosing the Linux kernel instead:
"I demonstrated the Linux running on my laptop. It's a humble machine eight years of age, with a 333 MHz Pentium III processor and 192 MB of memory. Our Linux only has a command-line environment so far. On that old machine, it starts in just under thirty seconds, whereas Syllable boots to a full graphical desktop in 17 seconds. On my development desktop machine, these numbers are 20 and 8 seconds, respectively. This should give you an idea why we developed Syllable in the first place, and why we are continuing to develop our own desktop kernel. On that laptop, XUbuntu based on Edgy Edge, which should be quite fast, boots to the XFCE desktop in two minutes and ten seconds..."
Member since:2006-09-08
Member since:2005-07-06
And I still think that this is wrong: the initialisation time given here is the total initialisation time not the initialisation time of the Linux kernel.
Using the Linux kernel doesn't in any way force you to keep using the regular initialisation system of a typical Linux distribution.
Of course it's slow, usually, it is based on shell scripts, sequentially started even!
I'd say that replacing the Linux OS initialisation system is much more easy than recreating a kernel from scratch and rewriting hundreds of drivers..
Member since:2005-07-06
Syllable was an OS focussed towards desktop users. Syllable on servers makes no sense. Most Unix/Linux servers are administraded without GUI anyway.
Syllable on Linux has IMHO some major problems:
1.) Current Linux users will most likely have an "Aw, yet another toolkit?" attitude towards Syllable.
2.) Common users (the target group for the Desktop release) will be confused. The Linux based (=Server) release will offer better hardware compatibility, but (maybe) harder configuration. If Syllable doesn't support some kind of obligatory universal binary format (only apps that run on both kernels are allowed to call themselfes "Syllabe compatible"), Syllable user will be confronted with a bunch of apps that only run on either kernel.
3.) Fragmentation of delevopment ressources. Syllable doesn't have that much developers anyway. The Syllable developers have to port every piece of code to both kernels and have to test their apps on both kernels.
I also have the impression that Haiku has overtaken Syllable in the "Best hobby OSS operating system" department.
Member since:2005-07-06
The Syllable API already exists. Syllable Server doesn't make this problem worse. If anything, it helps because we can have a wider audience for the API now.
It's not as bad as you might think. We wont need to "port" the applications. We just need to maintain our lower APIs on both kernels.
Member since:
2005-08-12
I wholly believe the focus of any new OS effort should be on userland/GUI with a stripped and much tailored Linux/BSD kernel below (Edit: NOT A DISTRO! Think more like what Apple has done with OS X)
A Linux/BSD kernel would offer a robust, secure, drop-in core and allow the majority of the effort to be focused on the creative aspects of OS design. I understand that it is a "learning experience" for those involved, but it's unreasonable to hope to compare to what Linux/BSD have already achieved. I hope that after this server OS is developed, the Syllable team will see this as the direction to take the desktop and abandon the ATheOS core. If nothing else it will make the project much more realistic. IMO, anyway.
And why have I never heard of DirectFB!
Edited 2007-06-28 21:28