Does anyone here remember Cosmoe? Cosmoe was an attempt to combine Haiku’s API with the Linux kernel and related tools, started in the early 2000s. The project eventually fizzled out, now only an obscure footnote for BeOS diehards such as myself. It seems, though, that the idea of combining the Haiku API with a mature UNIX-like operating system refuses to die, and a few days ago, on the NetBSD Users’s Discussion List, a developer by the name of Stephan picked up the baton.
Some years ago I already started to work on a compatibility layer for NetBSD and resumed working on it recently.
[…]I think a compatibility layer would mostly consist of kernel components and a custom libroot.so. I have created a libroot that provides functionality missing in libc and it should behave like the original one. It makes use of libc and libpthread at the moment as well as syscalls of the kernel components. The source can be found on Github.
This is clearly an experimental project, but Stephan does note he has had success running the Haiku IPC test programs, so it’s definitely more than scribbles on a napkin. The attraction of this idea is clear, too – Haiku API, but on a stable kernel with vastly superior hardware and device support. I’m not entirely sure if it’s got life in it, but even if it doesn’t – it’s amazing work, and that in an of itself makes it a success.
Great idea but there’s virtually no original BeOS/Haiku software to run. Despite the super amazing API.
In my opinion turning BeOS into a multiplataform SDK was the only way to remain relevant.
And vice versa… enabling other toolkits on Haiku resulted in a large uptick in users and developer interest, because its more usable.
You are right but, what is the advantage of running a Qt application in Haiku over Linux? None.
Apart from the geek factor Haiku has to offer something interesting: small footprint, security, whatever. BeOS had a great perceived responsiveness but that was due to its SDK so Haiku needs native apps, apps that very people are going to make only for the to be run only in Haiku.
Hmm I thought Haiku was quite mature already, just with a lack of hardware support. Wouldn’t it be possible to port NetBSD’s hardware support to Haiku somehow? Or even run it in a mini-VM if necessary? (I think there’s something like this for FreeBSD, which runs a mini-Linux to use the Linux Wifi driver support.)
I love the idea of it. A solid base with a good API on top. Should be a winner on paper. The realist in me is whispering that this most probably won’t go anywhere. Haiku is porting *Nix software to even get a sotware catalog and this is already impacting the snappiness and elegance of Haiku. NetBSD can run that software natively. No need for the Haiku API layer. The problem is that the BeOS/Haiku API isn’t targeted in any meaningful way.
This is the trouble with any alternative OS projects. The demands we place on software have grown tremedously. These aren’t the simple times of the 80’s where having a spreadsheet was a killer application. If you don’t have at minimum a functioning, fully standards compliant browser and a usable office suite with at least a wordprocessor, spreadsheet program and a presentation program (MS compatible), you are dead in the water. Never mind that we don’t accept an OS that can’t play video or audio because of lacking decoders.
The only realistic way in which you can skip these problems is to write either a Linux compatible implementation or a Windows one. The immediate question you then get is what your design has that makes it better than the original. The answer often is, “We do things differently.” That’s a “good for you”, but it precludes your OS from being used as more than entertainment for a few hours in a VM. So practically none of these alternative projects reach anything close to critical mass.
The situation isn’t helped by the acceleration our lives have gotten because of the internet. News, social interaction, shopping, etc. Everything is bigger, quicker and demands more attention. Not a lot of time for futzing about with interesting projects when other live demands are constantly buzzing around you to get you to focus on them.
Yes, ran Cosmoe for a bit, along with Blue eyed OS http://www.blueeyedos.com/index-old.html. None of them stuck, unfortunately, Still really impressed with Haiku. But as others have said the moment for Beos has long since passed. Le Sigh.
And Bill Hayden was/is such a nice guy. A pleasure to communicate with.
So few people are writing native software for Haiku. In that regard I would say it’s not well tested and not very mature. Which is a shame. The API is pure poetry.
AndrewZ,
This is the unfortunate truth, Most new platform innovation does not catch on because they have no market share. Getting native market share has proven virtually impossible to new platforms/frameworks. Therefor most new platforms are forced to spend their resources support existing apps via a non-native compatibility API, displacing novel ones with new potential. The result is that alternatives tend to turn into clones of existing APIs. Solving this chicken and egg problem has proven devilishly difficult even for giant corporations.
How about this-
Do it because Micro$oft is evil,
Do it because Apple is even worse,
Do it because the Haiku API is beautiful and elegant,
Do it because who cares what the rest of the world is doing.
Creation starts with a blank canvas, paint what you will.