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Operating System Specific Discussions => Other Operating Systems => Topic started by: XDelusion on November 15, 2011, 06:12:53 PM

Title: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 15, 2011, 06:12:53 PM
It's no secret OSNews has a bit of a thing for the BeOS. I can only speak for myself, obviously, but relatively speaking, BeOS was the best operating system ever made. The man who started all this was Jean-Louis Gassee, former executive at Apple, who founded Be, Inc. in 1991. In the second half of the '90s, Apple was looking for a replacement for its heavily outdated Mac OS, after several failed attempts at developing its own - it came down to Steve Jobs NeXT, or BeOS. Be didn't make it, and Gassee is happier for it.

http://9to5mac.com/2011/11/11/gassee-thank-god-apple-chose-steve-jobss-next-over-my-beos/

Original Article: http://www.osnews.com/comments/25329
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 15, 2011, 06:55:01 PM
I can't wait for the 68k port of Haiku to be in a usable state.  It would make a great alternative OS for the NatAmi/FPGA Replay machines.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: tone007 on November 15, 2011, 07:02:52 PM
To BeOS or not to BeOS, what was the question?
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: commodorejohn on November 15, 2011, 07:07:57 PM
Quote from: nicholas;667980
I can't wait for the 68k port of Haiku to be in a usable state.  It would make a great alternative OS for the NatAmi/FPGA Replay machines.
I'd love for the PPC port to be under active development again, but asking around on the forums it seems like nobody cares about it anymore... :/
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 15, 2011, 08:21:38 PM
Quote from: commodorejohn;667983
I'd love for the PPC port to be under active development again, but asking around on the forums it seems like nobody cares about it anymore... :/


Ditto, it would breathe some life back into some of the old Apple hardware I have cluttering up the house.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 15, 2011, 09:17:26 PM
It's a shame BeOS never had support for G3 CPU's. I have three iMacs just sitting around collecting dust.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: Duce on November 15, 2011, 09:39:59 PM
Thank God or what?  If they had, he would have had 125 million in the coffers rather than the pocket change from Palm.

The deal was screwed from the start just with the history between he and Jobs, IMHO.  I really loved BeOS, but all I read in that post is Gassee being cranky about not cashing in.  His relationship with Jobs, he figured he could push the issue and win in regards to flogging the OS.  Was a pissing match that didn't prove to be the big payoff for Gassee, and there would have been no working things out between Jobs and him.

Labor of love or not, he turned down 125 million from Apple, demanding 200 million.  Be got 11 mill in 2001 for the works from Palm, which has also gone the way of the dodo.

There's 100 long gone OS's that were a far superior product in some regards even in comparison to todays mainstream OS's, sadly.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: Tension on November 15, 2011, 09:45:45 PM
Quote from: Duce;667995
Thank God or what?  If they had, he would have had 125 million in the coffers rather than the pocket change from Palm.

The deal was screwed from the start just with the history between he and Jobs, IMHO.  I really loved BeOS, but all I read in that post is Gassee being cranky about not cashing in.  His relationship with Jobs, he figured he could push the issue and win in regards to flogging the OS.  Was a pissing match that didn't prove to be the big payoff for Gassee, and there would have been no working things out between Jobs and him.

Labor of love or not, he turned down 125 million from Apple, demanding 200 million.  Be got 11 mill in 2001 for the works from Palm, which has also gone the way of the dodo.

There's 100 long gone OS's that were a far superior product in some regards even in comparison to todays mainstream OS's, sadly.


+1
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 15, 2011, 11:51:22 PM
He did say he got new wheels for his chair though! ;)

Quote from: Duce;667995
Thank God or what?  If they had, he would have had 125 million in the coffers rather than the pocket change from Palm.

The deal was screwed from the start just with the history between he and Jobs, IMHO.  I really loved BeOS, but all I read in that post is Gassee being cranky about not cashing in.  His relationship with Jobs, he figured he could push the issue and win in regards to flogging the OS.  Was a pissing match that didn't prove to be the big payoff for Gassee, and there would have been no working things out between Jobs and him.

Labor of love or not, he turned down 125 million from Apple, demanding 200 million.  Be got 11 mill in 2001 for the works from Palm, which has also gone the way of the dodo.

There's 100 long gone OS's that were a far superior product in some regards even in comparison to todays mainstream OS's, sadly.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nyteschayde on November 16, 2011, 12:24:10 AM
I have been playing with Haiku recently and I am simply surprised how little code it actually takes to create a UI window and work with it. It's really an excellent model as to how an OS should work. I am fairly impressed by it. I wasn't aware there was a 68k version of it being built.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: commodorejohn on November 16, 2011, 12:33:50 AM
The more I learn about Haiku, the more I think I'm falling in love with it. Minimalist that I am, I was a bit derisively skeptical of things like metadata in the filesystem, but it looks like they actually have ideas for using it instead of just having it in there because it sounded cool, and in general concept it just seems like everything I thought Linux would be but isn't. I'm gonna give it a go alongside XP on my newest acquisition, and see if it's as nice to use as it is to read about...

Certainly sounds better than NeXTStep/OSX, at least.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 16, 2011, 01:00:32 AM
Quote from: nyteschayde;668015
I have been playing with Haiku recently and I am simply surprised how little code it actually takes to create a UI window and work with it. It's really an excellent model as to how an OS should work. I am fairly impressed by it. I wasn't aware there was a 68k version of it being built.

Beautiful API isn't it?

Francois Revol is the guy working on getting it to compile and boot on the Aranym VM.

(http://revolf.free.fr/beos/shots/shot_haiku_loader_amiga_m68k_003.png)
(http://revolf.free.fr/beos/shots/shot_haiku_m68k_kernel_001.png)
(http://revolf.free.fr/beos/shots/shot_haiku_m68k_loader_010.png)


http://haiku-files.org/unsupported-builds/m68k/
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 16, 2011, 01:10:09 AM
Beware, it's still in Alpha.

Unlike caertain other alt OS'. The Haiku team does not suggest this to replace your main OS with yet. At this point, it's mainly only good for developers and the curious.

Use a virtual machine too. It's highly unlikely that you'll have the perfect hardware combo for this to work with. I had a computer that RC1 ran fine on, but RC2 and 3 won't even fully boot on.

On the otherhand, I bet version 1.0 is really going to Be something when it gets here.


68k Haiku....  WHAT?!!


Quote from: commodorejohn;668016
The more I learn about Haiku, the more I think I'm falling in love with it. Minimalist that I am, I was a bit derisively skeptical of things like metadata in the filesystem, but it looks like they actually have ideas for using it instead of just having it in there because it sounded cool, and in general concept it just seems like everything I thought Linux would be but isn't. I'm gonna give it a go alongside XP on my newest acquisition, and see if it's as nice to use as it is to read about...

Certainly sounds better than NeXTStep/OSX, at least.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: commodorejohn on November 16, 2011, 01:22:36 AM
Quote from: XDelusion;668022
Unlike caertain other alt OS'. The Haiku team does not suggest this to replace your main OS with yet. At this point, it's mainly only good for developers and the curious.
Right, but I figure I'll give it a shot at least to see what it's like, even if it's not something I'd be ready to move over to yet.
Quote
Use a virtual machine too. It's highly unlikely that you'll have the perfect hardware combo for this to work with. I had a computer that RC1 ran fine on, but RC2 and 3 won't even fully boot on.
Hmm, I tried it on a Core 2 Duo box I nabbed from the recycle center, with an i945 board...the installer seemed happy enough with it, but I haven't tried anything with video acceleration, sound, or networking yet.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 16, 2011, 01:25:09 AM
I advise installing Alpha 3 and then immediately installing a nightly build over the top.  That way you get all the apps that come with the Alpha and all the recent bug fixes and improvements from the nightly.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 16, 2011, 02:07:25 AM
I just wanted to clarify, I'd hate to see someone try this out with false expectations never to return to it again. :)

Let us know about your experience! :)



Quote from: commodorejohn;668023
Right, but I figure I'll give it a shot at least to see what it's like, even if it's not something I'd be ready to move over to yet.

Hmm, I tried it on a Core 2 Duo box I nabbed from the recycle center, with an i945 board...the installer seemed happy enough with it, but I haven't tried anything with video acceleration, sound, or networking yet.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: SamuraiCrow on November 16, 2011, 04:46:37 AM
Quote from: nicholas;667980
I can't wait for the 68k port of Haiku to be in a usable state.  It would make a great alternative OS for the NatAmi/FPGA Replay machines.


Doesn't Haiku require an MMU in the CPU?  NatAmi's N68050 won't have one.  I don't think the default softcore of the Replay board will either.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: SamuraiCrow on November 16, 2011, 04:49:00 AM
Quote from: commodorejohn;668023
Hmm, I tried it on a Core 2 Duo box I nabbed from the recycle center, with an i945 board...the installer seemed happy enough with it, but I haven't tried anything with video acceleration, sound, or networking yet.


Gallium3D hasn't been ported to Haiku yet.  There will be video acceleration someday, but it's not here yet.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: commodorejohn on November 16, 2011, 05:19:35 AM
Ah, that's as I expected. Still, not a lot I need that for, and it seems to run quite snappily without it. Still haven't tried any audio stuff, but networking is up and running without any problems.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 16, 2011, 09:25:49 AM
Quote from: SamuraiCrow;668034
Doesn't Haiku require an MMU in the CPU?  NatAmi's N68050 won't have one.  I don't think the default softcore of the Replay board will either.

Yes it needs an MMU. The 060 would provide this if they allow a real CPU to be used in place of the soft core, like Yaqube's board for the Replay.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: obscurepanic on November 16, 2011, 03:05:23 PM
Oh, BeOS. You're like a brainchild of experienced MacOS developers with a mixed heritage from UNIX, Windows, AmigaOS, and perhaps from old school Atari OSes. Your API is very practical and approachable. It's great that you have a second life as Haiku. Be well!
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: SamuraiCrow on November 16, 2011, 04:53:17 PM
Quote from: nicholas;668049
Yes it needs an MMU. The 060 would provide this if they allow a real CPU to be used in place of the soft core, like Yaqube's board for the Replay.


Yes, the NatAmi allows a 68060 accelerator.  In fact, it is presently required on the current prototypes since the N68050 isn't finished yet.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: bloodline on November 16, 2011, 09:16:47 PM
I do think BeOS is quite a lovely architecture (not sure how faithful Haiku is to BeOS deep down, but it appears to be close), and I used BeOS PE5 for about a year in 2000/2001... But we have to be honest, in 1996 NeXTStep was far far more mature than BeOS.

Maybe with the 5 years of development that OSX received between 1996 and 2001, BeOS might have been brought upto spec... But I think given the state of both operating systems, Apple made the right choice... The thing I'm most impressed about OSX/iOS and it's developer environment, is the maturity of the whole thing, it feels so solid and carefully thought out I've never felt so comfortable :-/
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 16, 2011, 09:23:45 PM
I like how OS X requires tons of resources for just basic operations. Very mature in my book! ;)
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: nicholas on November 16, 2011, 09:42:26 PM
Quote from: XDelusion;668116
I like how OS X requires tons of resources for just basic operations. Very mature in my book! ;)

 There is only one reason I tolerate OSX these days and that is Logic Studio.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: commodorejohn on November 16, 2011, 09:55:07 PM
I haven't used anything newer than 10.4, but while I don't think it's awful, I don't see what the selling point is. It's hardly anything like classic Mac OS, interface-wise, and only mostly compatible with old software (any Mac on which I cannot run Spin Doctor is a Mac not worth my time.) Technology-wise, if I want BSD with a vaguely Mac-like desktop environment, there are half a billion clones of it out there.
Title: Re: Gassee: Thank God Apple Didn't Buy Be
Post by: XDelusion on November 16, 2011, 10:20:01 PM
Like I only tolerate Windows for advanced Doom editing and video production. :)


Quote from: nicholas;668117
There is only one reason I tolerate OSX these days and that is Logic Studio.