Amiga, BeOS, ect, What leads to the ulitmate OS?

[Dodge7]

For the past year or so, I have been watching two events with interest: the efforts of BeOS users to continue development of that OS and the efforts of the new Amiga company www.amiga.com to come out with a modern version of the Amiga OS. I have tried BeOS on my PC, and have seen the original Amiga system. They both have a lot of neat ideas/features, and tend to be pretty user friendly.

And then there is Linux, and several other OSes that people continue to develop..

It seems to me these projects all have good ideas, yet they have all been running off in their own directions. As such, they miss a lot of possibilities. For awhile Amiga had a new PC in process, yet they still were deciding on a modern OS, yet BeOS existed and had a lot of Amiga qualities. It seems like a deal could have been worked out to benefit BeOS and Amiga corp.

Actually, maybe BeOS for the Apple Mac could have been a good idea, or maybe a Linux OS for the Mac OS.... Of course the latest unix OS for the Mac is close.

Anyway, just curious what you all think? Maybe there should be a master OS project, where all those trying to create the ideal OS could join? Or maybe it is always going to be two main OS companies [like MS and Apple] and a lot of smaller OS es? Just curious what you all's view is?

[kilgoretrout]

I don't think there's such a thing as the ultimate OS; it depends on what you want and value and everyone will have a different opinion. Linux has certainly made great strides in the last two years and I see that trend continuing. It's taken over backroom servers and Apache now runs on a majority of servers. It's also made huge inroads in the embedded market where future growth is likely. Long term dominance by one or two companies is unlikely to continue indefinitely. Free open source projects will continue to evolve and get better resulting in the commoditization of the OS/software market in the long term with the resulting large decrease in profit margins. The smart companies like IBM seem to have realized this and are focusing on service rather than selling software. Having a number of companies pursuing there own vision of the ultimate OS is the best way to further innovation IMHO.

[Dodge7]

I would agree that the Open Source movement, and Linux is the way to go. People can add or alter the OS as they need to get what they specifically required. However, it seems like a desktop version of Linux is an afterthought. Linus is more for the techie that the average user.

You can run BeOS on a PC, and they have continued to develop that... While there is the Amiga system. Still, I would like a choice other than Windows to run on the PC..... The only other choice [that you can run use to daily tasks] it the Mac.

[Cacstus]

I would like a choice other than Windows to run on the PC..... The only other choice [that you can run use to daily tasks] it the Mac.

Is there something about linux that makes it unsuitable for daily use? I have often thought about getting away from windows, but haven't been ready to spend the mental energy of learning a new system just yet. I guess I'm on windows until I decide to stop being lazy, but I had the impression that linux was potentially a viable alternative. What will the Mac do that linux won't? I had looked around and was surprised to find that even the games I liked were supported by downloadable module?/adapter?/filter? Something you can download anyway for instance to run EverQuest on linux.

Thanks for any addidtional info, especially regarding what makes one OS better than another besides price or corporate practices.

P.S. I read something a while back about linux moving toward licensing and substantial fees in the future. Did that blow over, or is it still developing?

[Blakhart]

Gentoo or bsd, take yer pick. I shoulda said slack too...

[kilgoretrout]

Gentoo, bsd and slack are great distros but I wouldn't recommend them to newbies or anyoone with limited mental energy re learning a new operating system. Try redhat or mandrake. If you just want to see what linux is about with a minimal investment in time and learning, knoppix is for you. It runs entirely off a cd and writes nothing to your hard drive. Just download the iso and burn it as an image to a cd-r. Set your bios to boot off the cd drive before the hard drive, pop in the knoppix cd and reboot. Hardware is automatically set up and you boot into a linux desktop. Performance is somewhat slow since your loading off a cd but it will give you an idea of what linux is all about.
Linux has made huge strides on the desktop in the last two years; I think you'll be suprised.

Redhat, mandrake, gentoo, bsd, slack and knoppix are all free. Linux being open source means that the source code will always be available for free and there will always be free linux distros. Like anything there's a learning curve but it's worth the investment. I personally use linux as my primary OS on the desktop as do many others and loathe having to boot into windows.

[Cacstus]

I personally use linux as my primary OS on the desktop as do many others and loathe having to boot into windows.

That's my biggest concern over checking out Linux. Why do you ever have to boot into windows? I haven't had to boot into linux yet...

[OOPS!]

Hi,

Well, the biggest problem with having to continue using Windows is needing some piece of software that uses some propritory format that won't be accessable to any Linux software.

I'm a machinist and need to make CAD drawings, The CAD program they use is very propritary. So I need to use Windows for that . There are several good programs in Linux that I like, but can't use them for work because of the format.

OOPS!

[kilgoretrout]

Why do you ever have to boot into windows? I haven't had to boot into linux yet...

I need windows primarily for work as well. I get a lot of Word docs that are heavily formatted and they don't render well in the open source office apps. I also keep it for my kids' games.
From your comment I assume you are satisfied with windows and see no need to explore other OSes in general and linux in particular. That's a personal choice and if your happy don't switch; I'm not trying to convert anyone.
Windows is more user friendly than linux but that is changing rapidly. Linux is much more flexible than windows and I enjoy the freedom it gives. Linux and open source software is the only major threat that MS sees to it's continued dominance, by it's own admission. The fact that there is a competitor capable of threatening MS's market dominace is something that benefits all computer users by bringing pressure on MS re pricing, oppressive licensing terms,security, business practices etc. You may not need to boot into linux but you benefit from its existence nonetheless.

[Cacstus]

Thanks kilgoretrout,

I certainly didn't intend to bash linux, my comment about not having to boot into linux may not have had the exact tone I desired. Windows does meet my needs at the moment, but that doesn't stop me from looking into alternatives. If I felt that I could switch over to linux (or any other OS) without having to use a safety net, I would be a lot more enthusiastic about switching. I would like to know what you consider to be the pros and cons to using linux instead of windows if you care to make a short list of points. I may yet try knoppix, but it seems very odd to use an operating system that doesn't reside on the HDD. How would my SATA driver behave with that setup, would I be able to save files at all? Then again, knoppix would not be a fair trial if it doesn't provide the benefits of Gentoo or some other "full" version. So... convert me already. I'm listening and interested.

You may not need to boot into linux but you benefit from its existence nonetheless

Oh I agree, nothing like wolves biting at your heels to keep you on the run!

~secret machinists handshake to OOPS!~

[Cacstus]

Sorry to hijack your thread Dodge7, I'll start a new thread.

Thanks for the info here though, this has been interesting!

[Mac Medic]

For me, the biggest concern was and is security. I primarily use OS X for most tasks, and it's the only OS I use for e-mail. Unfortunately I would never consider using a windows machine for e-mail even though I love the power and features of outlook's contact management and calendar database. It has just become too much of a target for spreading viruses. There is not a single known virus that affects OS X, and I have to say I like that, but I am still careful, as I can still spread a windows virus via e-mail even though it wont affect me. And seeing as OS X is a BSD Unix operating system, I have all the beneifits that Unix and Linux users have by being able to run all the open source software available. I like Windows XP, and it has it's uses for me, but I spend way too much time lately patching it and all the other software just to make it secure, and I would rather be getting things done that jumping through all those hoops.