Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

v-os.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 234 posts

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#201

Post by O1111OOO »

akho wrote: post #77
pjmlp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And much better option, running the real deal, instead of some compatibility layer.

I suspect Linux has better hardware support than Haiku, which is not exactly easy to run on laptop hardware (w/ wifi, sleep, &c)

> I suspect Linux has better hardware support than Haiku, which is not exactly easy to run on laptop hardware (w/ wifi, sleep, &c)

So true. I had an old Dell Latitude D620, 3GB/500GB, 1.66ghz Intel Core Duo Processor and it was sound that tripped me up. Haiku was lightning fast on this machine.

I think that eventually I might've gotten sound to work but... this was many years ago and the laptop was mostly for testing light-weight distros on modest hardware.

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#202

Post by ranger_danger »

lobf wrote: post #40
clayhacks wrote: post #38

Ok maybe I’m too young, but what is BeOS? Everyone here is linking other alternatives, but no one’s linked to the original BeOS. Or is it gone now?

I don't understand this type of helplessness when you're already competent enough to use HN... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeOS

"Why did you ask this when you can google it?"

Because sometimes I learn unexpected things and get another perspective even when I could search for it myself.

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#203

Post by ranger_danger »

Cosmoe, a similar project that supports running Haiku apps on Linux, has also been recently revived after 18 years: https://pappp.net/?p=95060

There is also a library version where you can use the Haiku API to write Linux apps.

I do have to say... in all my years of software development, as far as system APIs go, BeOS/Haiku has by far been the most pleasant and easy-to-use API I have ever seen, so this is a very welcome addition for me.

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#204

Post by henry_bone »

erremerre wrote: post #100
yason wrote: post #54

I bought an Amiga in the early 90's and enjoyed it immensely. Commodore went under and Amiga died. I bought BeOS in the late 90's and enjoyed it immensely like a breath of fresh air in a sewage pipe. BeOS died. With my track record I really, really should've bought Windows. Twice, to make sure.

I am in the same boat, every time I like something, it is a commercial failure. They should really hire me to check if I like whatever project they got in mind and if I do, cancel immediatetly and save the losses from being a failure.

100%. Seems there's a whole class of us. If I'd been old enough at the time to by an early VCR, I'd have chosen betamax.

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#205

Post by kev009 »

This is both ambitious and seemingly not intractable which is a rare goldilocks combination.

As some contrast, consider something like GNUStep. You are never going to get macOS out of GNUStep, no matter how hard you try, because it is too high level (Cocoa) while simultaneously too ambitious. Similarly, with alternate kernels like ReactOS you will never get full replacement of Windows because it is too ambitious and intractable.

The intersection of this project though, it is a cunning insight in using the hardware support of Linux and shedding the graphics layer for something a lot simpler with a minimal kernel module to support the existing mechanics of BeOS. This is more in line with wine, which is and has been useful for a long time, but is even easier. This doesn't mean it will achieve massive user base, but it seems like it will mature fast enough into something dedicated fans can enjoy and use productively.

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#206

Post by Shebanator »

pjmlp wrote: post #155
tvaughan wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OS/2 Warp was out before Windows 95, and better.

If we ignore the fact that it required 1000 euros more in additional hardware, thus most folks went with DOS/Windows 3.x instead, and when Windows 95 came around it was already too late for adoption.

Exactly: it depends on what you mean by "better". OS/2 had a much more modern basis, but:

* it was painful to program compared to Windows

* it required a lot more hardware (and thus money) to achieve the same level of performance.

* the UI was terrible

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#207

Post by nomdep »

SuperNinKenDo wrote: post #133
akho wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect Linux has better hardware support than Haiku, which is not exactly easy to run on laptop hardware (w/ wifi, sleep, &c)

I suspect it was a freak occurence, but I actually had incredible luck running Haiku on an old laptop back in the day. It was incredibly fast, and just about all the amenities you'd expect worked with no or minimal intervention.

Me too. The laptop was so old that I couldn't play a 360p mpg video without pauses on Windows 2K or XFCE, but it ran smoothly with BeOS5 (the Intel-based abandonware version)

Re: VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS

#210

Post by cgk1951 »

chocochunks wrote: post #95
yason wrote: post #54

I bought an Amiga in the early 90's and enjoyed it immensely. Commodore went under and Amiga died. I bought BeOS in the late 90's and enjoyed it immensely like a breath of fresh air in a sewage pipe. BeOS died. With my track record I really, really should've bought Windows. Twice, to make sure.

I think I did this with phones. WebOS, BB10, Windows Phone 7 & 8. All dead lol.

I was seriously interested in PenPoint, but it was too early for tablet PCs to succeed. Handwriting recognition was nowhere near mature enough yet and unfortunately that became the main issue in that niche. Even Apple pretty much failed with the Newton because of it.

But PenPoint had a lovely UI and, if memory serves, an API much like Apple's Objective C.

Microsoft had a hand in killing PenPoint, just as they did with BeOs. Jerry Kaplan told the story in his book "Startup".

Post reply on HN