[openbeos] Re: OpenBeOS in competition with BeOS
- From: "Adam Baratz" <Adam_Baratz@xxxxxxx>
- To: <openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 19:07:29 -0400
> Can happen. Will happen if there are several BeOS "initiatives".
> Can be avoided if we pool resources and think straight about it.
This separation is one of the big issues I just don't understand about Open
BeOS. I'm still unconvinced of a good reason for having it. Open BeOS
would be a very different OS. Despite all of our intentions to "continue
the legacy," through some machinations it's going to be different. People
have already stated that some architectural changes are desired. What's to
stop other changes from occuring? When will it be that it's no longer a
free version of BeOS, but a different OS entirely?
What's wrong with extending the already existing OS? The foundation is
pretty good, so you might as well tighten that instead of starting from
square one. As the person who rewrote the mail daemon demonstrated, it *is*
possible to interchange some things successfully. Why not just continue
this philosophy with the rest of the OS? It's quite possible that you could
transition all of the OS except for maybe the kernel in that fashion. Or
why not instead of beginning a new project, just join the development of
NewOS? Most people want to use the kernel, so why not strengthen the
development team of that project? Not only by making Open BeOS are you
splintering the Be community, but by using the NewOS kernel you're
splintering that OS' chances for success.
I believe Ben Franklin said something like "We must all hang together or
we'll hang separately" in reference to the American Revolution. He was very
right, and not just about political rebellions. It's unbearably stupid to
have a million different projects all trying to achieve the same goal. A
single focused effort is the only thing that will result in anything. Why
are we planning the development of an entirely new OS when we don't even
know Palm's opinion on the matter? Maybe they want to license it to us.
The organizational steps that are being taken now could easily be taken a
few weeks from now once we know Palm's opinion on the subject. Be careful
from not being swept up in the excitement of developing a new OS that you
don't notice the realities of the situation. Hopefully Palm won't feel wary
about supporting a group that currently wants to rebuild their IP in an open
fashion. Would you as a company want to support a group that was bent on
reverse engineering your valuable IP without even antagonizing them?
-Adam
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