I think this could be more successful if they break it into parts. E.g. a window manager, and separate macOS emulator. And allow other BSD/Linux/Unix distributions to use them as well and install them as packages.
Airyx OS
111–120 of 258 posts
Re: Airyx OS
#112More information and motivation in the git repo[0], the link to which I didn't spot easily in the site header. The main design goals are: * source compatibility with macOS applications (i.e. you could compile a Mac application on Airyx and run it) * similar GUI metaphors and familiar UX (file manager, application launcher, top menu bar that reflects the open application, etc) * compatible with macOS filesystems (HFS+…
> compatible with macOS filesystems (HFS+ and APFS) How far along is this? I think she's underestimating how hard it is to implement a modern filesystem that won't eat users' data. I've been working on a Linux APFS driver[0] for several years, and it's not fully functional yet. It's a pity that she is working with FreeBSD, or it could have been of use to her. [0] https://github.com/eafer/linux-apfs-rw
> It's a pity that she is working with FreeBSD, or it could have been of use to her.
I suppose FreeBSD made more sense as a base considering MacOS is derived from BSD.
Re: Airyx OS
#113Airyx’s developer may want to say hello to the developers of Hello, who are doing something very complementary to this with UX—and are quite far along already. https://hellosystem.github.io/docs/
If any Hello devs are here, I just want to point out that I was interested in using their interface, until I noticed that the window titles are not centered based on the window but on the space between the window buttons and the window (this is on the website). That put me off the whole website (which is fast judgement on my part, but hey I've got stuff to do).
Does anyone else here agree?
Re: Airyx OS
#114This reminds me of vegan bacon. If you dont want to eat meat, why try and replicate the taste, texture and sensation of eating meat? If you dont want to use macOS, why try and replicate the taste, texture and sensation of using macOS?
I am not vegan because I do not like meat, I am vegan because I think that it bad for the environment and causes unnecessary suffering to animals.
The fact that I could enjoy meat without any of those downsides is appealing to me :)
Re: Airyx OS
#115This reminds me of vegan bacon. If you dont want to eat meat, why try and replicate the taste, texture and sensation of eating meat? If you dont want to use macOS, why try and replicate the taste, texture and sensation of using macOS?
Did you really have to sidetrack and bait a technical conversation by mentioning vegan bacon?
Enjoy the off topic comment chain.
Re: Airyx OS
#116What is the difference between this and GNUSTEP http://www.gnustep.org/ and Darling http://darlinghq.org
Not sure about GNUstep, but Darling is akin to Wine, in that it is a re-implementation of the Mac APIs within a Linux environment, allowing you to run MacOS apps on Linux without recompilation. Whereas Airyx is a full FreeBSD OS (distribution?) that tries to mimic MacOS as a whole.
Re: Airyx OS
#117Apple cease and desist in 3... 2...
It looks like the APIs are being reverse engineered, thus even if this happens, Apple likely has little legal ground to stand on, if at all (IANAL). See also ReactOS[0].
Re: Airyx OS
#118Not to diminish the effort, but I think replicating the look and design (as in how things work) of MacOS (or Windows 10) is a pitfall that very few alternative OS developers manage to avoid. It's just a bad idea. They'll never get even close, and those screenshots on Imgur prove it. What I'd prefer is if these definitely brilliant developers would "own" the Unix history more, and build upon Motif. Put the effort do c…
> It's just a bad idea. They'll never get even close, and those screenshots on Imgur prove it. It's a great idea. Because developing your own look and feel for the entire OS is an enormous task. This way you at least have a foundation to build upon.
It's also an enormous task to replicate one. User interface design isn't just about rounded edges and aqua chrome, it's about all of the small details: spacing, scale, padding, margins, font rendering and hinting, colour, arrangement, target zones, interactive feedback, discoverability.
While I am delighted that there are people out there trying to build open source desktops that are more friendly and attractive, it isn't going to turn out well unless you have people on board who really know and grok user interface experience and design. For a good example of this, look at the vast quality difference between helloSystem and elementaryOS — the latter having significantly more attention poured into the smaller design details and it is immediately obvious how much of a difference that makes.
You can't just duplicate what you think you see. You have to also understand why it was designed that way in the first place.
Re: Airyx OS
#119Projects like these will be always one step behind the thing they are trying to replicate (MacOS in this case). It is better to spend one's creative energy innovating and coming up with better solutions rather than re-implementing what Apple is doing.
> Projects like these will be always one step behind the thing they are trying to replicate (MacOS in this case).
No, they won't. MacOS and Windows are both going backwards in innovations (according to many HN commenters at least). At some point this project (and ReactOS) will get better than the originals.
Re: Airyx OS
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. NeXT / macOS has been a pretty stable target for a very, very long time. If you’re going to clean room implement anything, a stable thing is a great target. macOS has, however, been making superficial changes that people don’t care about. A free macOS desktop alternative would build on a stable set of core technologies, and let people do the crazy things that they want, and not do the crazy things that th…
The „good thing“ is, that Apple seems to be heading in wrong directions. So yes, it will be behind. Until suddenly it stops following and have it‘s own direction. It is way overdue for a change in the ecosystem again. There should be more choices for the average user. I urge everyone who has some demanded skills to get involved in projects like this. It is time.
What wrong directions you're referring to?