Linked by diodesign on Mon 21st Jan 2013 22:57 UTC
The lead developer of a niche ARM-powered OS has written a string of in-depth articles on the design, implementation and testing of a commercial operating system. Justin Fletcher was the architect of versions of 4 and 6 of RISC OS, the ARM processor's original operating system. Although his pieces will be best appreciated by RISC OS and Acorn users old and new, the series is a fantastic insight into operating system design: check out his build system for compiling code into ROM images, the abstraction of video graphics from a legacy 1980s-era kernel, converting images on the fly, testing and debugging, executing applications and plenty more. Justin has written tens of thousands of words and will be publishing new pieces daily online and in Android and iOS-friendly formats.
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Member since:2013-01-22
They could have easily become the kings of the professional operating systems that are both legendary, fast, well-thought and extensible ... BUT ... they're not open source, and this will make their life miserable at best. At worse they can just dissapear, like BeOS. Then we will get some rewrite of the RISCOS code after several years of unnessesarily doubled work.
Come on people, wake up. Open source your stuff. It's not 1980s. The model has changed. Open source works and closed source doesn't work. And that won't change, because if you get a taste of the freedom once, you won't give it away anymore.
You can be either loved by the small group of enthusiasts with big wallets, or by the huge group of enthusiasts willing to pay for support and help. Don't be a prick, for f#@#$'s sake.
Come on people, wake up. Open source your stuff. It's not 1980s. The model has changed. Open source works and closed source doesn't work. And that won't change, because if you get a taste of the freedom once, you won't give it away anymore.
You can be either loved by the small group of enthusiasts with big wallets, or by the huge group of enthusiasts willing to pay for support and help. Don't be a prick, for f#@#$'s sake.
Open source wouldn't have paid the bills, for me, and closed source barely did - closed source being a requirement of the license. There are those who have a great regard for open source, and honour the agreements that are in place. There are others who don't, and have to be put in their place. But whatever the ideologies, I still try to keep from being insulting to others that have a different viewpoint.
Member since:2007-11-23
Sorry if that insults you. I admit I went a little bit too far. I'm kinda grumpy in the morning hours 
Anyway, I do think that FLOSS is the presence and the future, but I accept the ones that are willing to stay with the closed source model. It's their choice [with their profit or loss].
Best regards
Member since:2005-07-06
Another lineage of RISC OS is moderately ~open: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_RISC_OS#Post-Acorn_developm... (even if apparently messy at times http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISCOS_Ltd#License_dispute )
...which doesn't mean "the kings of the professional operating systems that are both legendary, fast, well-thought and extensible" - RISC OS just isn't that good, it seems.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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Member since:
2007-11-23
They could have easily become the kings of the professional operating systems that are both legendary, fast, well-thought and extensible ... BUT ... they're not open source, and this will make their life miserable at best. At worse they can just dissapear, like BeOS. Then we will get some rewrite of the RISCOS code after several years of unnessesarily doubled work.
Come on people, wake up. Open source your stuff. It's not 1980s. The model has changed. Open source works and closed source doesn't work. And that won't change, because if you get a taste of the freedom once, you won't give it away anymore.
You can be either loved by the small group of enthusiasts with big wallets, or by the huge group of enthusiasts willing to pay for support and help. Don't be a prick, for f#@#$'s sake.