The Cosmoe 0.5.4 release is a relatively minor update which further improves the configuration script and the Makefiles that it touches. New in this release is the ability to create a DirectFB-enabled target.
Cosmoe 0.5.4 Released
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Eugenia Loli
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Have I got this right when I say you can compile Cosmoe and replace your Linux kernel???? Or is Cosmoe an entirely stand alone operating system which for some reason is dependant on Linux, sounds pretty weird in that case… can someone explain a bit better as Cosmoe’s homepage isn’t 2 revealing….
When it was first announced it sounded like BeOS/Atheos combined, running on top of the Linux kernel just for driver support. Now to my untrained eye it just like another Linux in that prospective users need to compile it themselves, run it under an existing Linux installation, etc. So what exactly is it then? Is it just a Linux that uses BeOS/Atheos instead of X? Is it intended to run BeOS apps or Linux apps? If I get 50 people calling me an idiot for not knowing how to use it then I will assume it’s just another Linux!
yes, it’s another linux dist (or at least it will be) since it’s using the linux kernel.
However, it doesn’t use XFree. That’s a big difference.
And the fact that it will have code compatibility with several API’s makes it easy to port applications from other operating systems, like BeOS and MacOS.
The reason why you have to compile it yourself on your existing linux installation is probably because it’s very early in development and it’s pointless to provide a distribution package at this point.
M$:
No, it won’t replace your linux kernel. the linux kernel has replaced the atheos kernel, mainly for better hardware support. Being dependant on linux isn’t such a bad thing, it means that the weight of developing a kernel has been lifted off ones shoulders.
It won’t be a Linux distribution, it will be Cosmoe. That’s what you people have to understand… Just because it’s running on the Linux kernel, doesn’t make it Linux. What people currently call the “Linux” OS is in fact the GNU OS running on the Linux kernel. The kernel is important, but doesn’t make a complete OS. Cosmoe is Cosmoe and has not much in commen with GNU/Linux besides the kernel.
Cosmoe could also run on another kernel (like AtheOS) and probably will some day. Just like GNU could run on another kernel and will as soon as the Hurd is ready.
That said, of course systems based on the Linux kernel will all be binary compatible. But without X or without Cosmoe, this compatibility will be left to command line tools.
First of all thanks for the replies. This cleared my mind up a bit. Cosmoe does NOT replace the Linuxkernel but is rather an add-on. Now that this is cleared out I have some more questions…
Rain wrote:
yes, it’s another linux dist (or at least it will be) since it’s using the linux kernel.
However, it doesn’t use XFree. That’s a big difference.
<Snip>
So it depends on all stuff implemented in the kernel and then gives another interface for UI development and API classes? Meaning basically that you can build a strong graphical OS instead of a serverbased system such as Linux generally could be considered? Would this open up the opportunity for game developers to make some progress in Linux with compatibility to Atheos and Beos with still the functionality to work with a scaled Linux using the kernel with Cosmoe on top of it???
Spark wrote:
It won’t be a Linux distribution, it will be Cosmoe. That’s what you people have to understand… Just because it’s running on the Linux kernel, doesn’t make it Linux.
<snip>
My bad, things are a bit clearar now anyway, thank you. But from Rain’s message it looks like Atheos also adapted the Linuxkernel??? I’m mistaken here?
atheos is dead, isn’t it?
(first comment, btw!)
I want more of ’em!
It really irks me when people on this board demean the Linux kernel with statements like “Cosmoe uses the Linux kernel just for driver support.” The Linux kernel is one impressive piece of technology. It has several fast journaled filesystems, very low latency, great networking, server-level I/O subsystem, etc. In short, Cosmoe switched to it (I presume) because it is an all-around better kernel, with the added benifet that it has lots of driver support.
… lack of binary compatibility (that AtheOS has).
M$: I don’t see what this has to do with game developers. Game developers usually write games for X (because of DRI, Nvidia drivers, etc) so they won’t run on AtheOS, Cosmoe, etc. And this won’t change soon because Cosmoe would first need a decent OpenGL implementation and accelerated 3D hardware drivers. And if it succeeds in getting such, it would be very difficult to make this compatible with X. If game developers would just choose SDL and OpenGL, it wouldn’t be very difficult to port though (that’s the reason id Software hasn’t a lot of problems with Linux ports, they use OpenGL).
But maybe I missunderstood your question.
Obviously I managed to confuse everyone again…. I think I can rephrase the question and hopefully gain a good answer.
Why would anyone want to run Cosmoe??? (NOT meant as a rude question but just for curiosity).
Ah ok, that’s less confusing.
You could just read the website though. It tries to create a new desktop OS, basically from scratch (minus the kernel and the AtheOS fork
). Without X but with an integrated and clean GUI. It is also striving to get BeOS sourcecode compatibility and even Carbon eventually. Oh and it is free software. Those are great plans but atm most of this isn’t done of course. So there are only two reasons to run Cosmoe “right now”. You are either very curious or a developer. 
So it sounds very similar to Blue Eyed OS… With one huge difference though… Mr Hayden seems a bit lonely on his end =(.
Anyway, I think some things have cleared up a bit in my mind.
And to Rayiner Hashem… I’m not trying to say that the Linux kernel is bad in any way… I was just confused… didn’t the title say so =)
but nobody answered my original question: is Atheos still actively developed? On its web page the latest news item goes bock to october 2001 …
Same problem as I had in 0.5.2. Platform is Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody) on PowerPC, with GCC 3.0.4.
People have suggesting commenting out the trailing “);” but no dice. Any ideas? Why the heck would this error persist through so many version- has it to do with the PPC ifdefage?
Here’s where it goes:
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/rev/downloads/cosmoe/appserver’
gcc -pipe -O2 -g -I./freetype2-beta8/include -c -Wall -I../include vesadrv.cpp -o objs/vesadrv.o
In file included from vesadrv.cpp:27:
../include/cosmoe/isa_io.h: In function `void outb_p(unsigned char, short
unsigned int)’:
../include/cosmoe/isa_io.h:27: parse error before `)’ token
Nobody knows. Kurt hasn’t said anything about starting working on the project again, so I assume that he hasn’t touch the code for many many months. However, that doesn’t mean that the project is dead. Kurt is known to take long vacations every 2 years or so, but this time his vacations were the longest to date…
Well, I successfully compiled the beast, but when I tried to start it, it locked up my laptop and trashed my root file system.
That’s a shame, because I really think this project is the best hope yet of getting a desktop on Linux that’s usable by Joe User.
I am not particularly known for my timidity, but all the same, I think I’m going to wait for another release or two before I try this beast again.
😉