🚀 go-pugleaf

Gatsby(heinrich@rochester.rr.com) be all Stampede, FreeBSD, BeOS

I'm not going to Rant on linux or bsd today, i like them both,
and prefer linux out of the two. Instead, i'll Share what i've
learned of BeOS.

>    BeOS is partially open, though the kernal remains copyrighted.

The kernel allows for addons (much like a linux kernel module) to be
Thrown into the operating system seamlessly. Therefore, you can add
to the Be kernel, you just cannot remove from or change it. All you 
do is copy it into a directory. Very easy. And it works like a charm.

>    So, hacks can modify the OS quite a bit, giving them flexibility,
>    but can not make any essential changes b/c the kernel is not
>    open.  This may slow true evolution.  However, it may also be
>    an essential quality control, since the kernel's are rarely in

They do this because Their Internet Appliances (see Below) use The
Be Kernel, and that's where they plan to make most of their money
in the future.

>    need of much revamping.  It costs some 60 dollars.  However,
>    I saw a version of it(non-commerial) v. 5.0 that was free and

Yes, This comes out on Tuesday the 28th, Available for free download.
Be, Inc. is moving their primary agenda to Internet Appliances, which
use a modified BeOS they call Spider(?). The $60 version you mentioned
is the older Be v4.5, which i used for quite some time, and will no 
longer be developed. Be 5's EXACT details and specs havent' been 
released. That's sort of a tuesday surprise for us faithful Be users..

>    downloadable off http://www.beos.com  BeOS is supposed to
>    be the best system at pre-emptive multi-tasking, and the
>    fastest system, which takes advantage of all of the CPU's
>    power, esp modern CPU's.

It's absolutely Fabulous here. If you choose to play with the BeOS,
definitely grab ProcessController off bebits.com... It's one of the 
nicest tools i've seen for managing processes.

>
>Please tell me if any of what I have is wrong, and please elaborate on all
>of it.  Please add to the qualities of each operating system, as u see fit.
>

There's only 3 Problems i have with the Be Operating system. Those are:
A. It's single-user. 
   There is no root, and there is only one other user. This also has the 
   side-effect of having my computer think that every file is owned by a 
   user named 'baron'.

B. Interface Configuration.
   BeOS was made originally as an Alternative to the MacOS, and inherited 
   this from Mac. Very few colors can be changed, your mouse pointer is
   always the same, and it has kind of a bright-colored feel to it. It's
   nowhere near as bad as the Mac, and if you use the Living Dangerously
   Application, it's possible to change the Tab (be term for titlebar)
   color, which was the most annoying part, to me.
   
C. Licensing!!! (gasp)
   Very Few Be Developers or Programmers use the GPL. All i can Say about
   That is that it's a dead-end road, And it needs to change for them.

>I am not interested in using my computer as a server.  I am also not highly
>concerned with security -- in other word, I don't need fort knox on my
>computer, but I do need a secure computer, which all of these seem to
>provide.  My main use of my computer if for playing games such as
>TombRaider(I - IV) and Descent(I - III), as well as using the internet for

Buy a Playstation for Gaming. ;)

>web-surfing and such.  I also will want to be using voice commands via voice
>recognition.  Basically, I want the OS that can do all of those the best, or
>the combination that would be able to do all of them best.  As I'm a
>tech-phile, voice command is pretty important to me, so it'd be very

As was mentioned before, OS/2 can handle Voice Control, and is a Nice OS,
but IBM no longer works on it. OS/2 is more or less dead for PC's, altho
High-End IBM Servers still run OS/2.

>preferrable if I could use them.  Also, I like many of the X-Windows Windows
>managers such as SCWM and KDE.  I would like to be able to use them on

In order to use these on the BeOS you'd need to install their version of the
X-Windows system. This is, however, not TOO productive, as X runs as a Be App, 
and your Be programs don't run inside of it. Meaning, no Window Manager for 
native Be Apps.

>whatever system I pick.  Also, I don't want anything resembling Mac's OS;
>or, I want something that can be configured so it bears no resemblance to
>the Mac OS what-so-ever -- I hate those cute, child-computers.

I hate The Mac OS with a passion, But i love Be. Be's interface isn't
close enough to The Mac OS to make it nautious, and Be's done a nicer
job of point/click. It works almost Seamlessly with everything in the OS,
or any programs you might Add.

>
>

--Rando Christensen
eyez@xanthor.net