Haiku News ~ #00955 ~ Chatting With Michael Phipps; Status & The Future of Haiku.

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Chatting With Michael Phipps; Status & The Future of Haiku.

Dec 27, 2004 02:51 UTC, by Chris Simmons, Senior Journalist.
From the cloning-methods department...

We spoke with Michael Phipps during the holidays and asked to give us his view from the top, as he heads the Haiku project from his home in Rochester, N.Y. Michael is not big on words, as you will see from his concise answers to our questions about the Haiku-OS.org server, project status, the future, and more.

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You're not one for words, I know... Can you tell me what pitfalls you've learnt over the years, and how you would avoid them if given the chance to do it all over again?
I have honestly screwed up more than anyone has any right to. And I am so aware that I can tell you probably every mistake from the beginning. Probably, over all, I have been too optimistic. From the very beginning, I made the mistake of accepting what people said they could/would do as gospel. Trying to grow an organization from scratch, I put people in positions that they weren't as ready for as they thought that they were.

We have really moved away from that to more of a "earn your position" kind of methodology. You want commit privs? Send us some patches. You want to be a team lead? Be a good team member first. That's how most OSS works. But, then again, most OSS teams don't need 10-15 leaders to start with like we did. No one has ever (AFAIK) done what we are doing.

At the beginning, when we had 100+ developers (that is, people who signed up to help), I thought that we would be done in a year. Which might have been the case, had all 100 devs been effective. But instead, more like 10 have been effective. That's why we are here 3.5 years later - lack of dev free time. Which comes about from a) lack of devs and b) RL obligations. Both of those can be fixed in only one way easily - money.

You know the saying "It's lonely at the top."... Is this especially true of an open source project, given also that there is a heavy responsiblity to re-create a beloved OS with an almost cult-like following?
Not at all. Because we are OSS, we work in a big glass house with no curtains. Because anyone can look at our source and see how things are going, there isn't the lonliness that comes from having secrets. I actually feel like I am part of that cult like following.

What kind of work has there been on USB support? What is expected?
I haven't heard anything lately on this. Need to check in with niels soon. I expect that we will have a USB bus manager and at least a few drivers. (hd, print, mass storage)

Will there be a WalterCon in 2005? If so, what is planned, and where?
Yes. My only real plan is that I would like to do it in Vegas. Something a little bigger.

In your opinion, what is Haiku's biggest strength over Linux?
I think that is like saying "what is an orange's biggest strength over chicken".

Seriously - Haiku is not competition for Linux. We are shooting for the areas that Linux is very poor at. I have been using a BSD as my desktop on my portable machine. I have come to understand, firsthand, why people say that Linux and BSD are not ready for the desktop.

I am a unix guru (10+ years) and I struggle hard every time I have to change something to figure out which text config file I have to tweak. That is where BeOS really stands out. Easy to set up and run.

Looking over 2004, what stands out most in your mind, both positively and negatively?
Positively - WalterCon, 501(c)3 status, booting off of a hard drive, input server finished. oh - and being laid off.

Negatively - transitioning from disposible income to broke, transitioning from being able to work on Haiku when I wanted to -> working all day.

What's close to being done soon?
Well... there's so little that isn't done that there is nothing coming.

Literally? The interface_kit, kernel, app_server, media_kit, networking_kit .. everything else is DONE!?
Mostly. I mean - we have bug fixes and stuff that we need to do. But most of the rest is done, AFAIK. Input kit works. Game kit and the new media kit together work. Translation works. Mail kit, Tracker. The situation is really a good one to be in - we are really down to the last few (hardest) pieces.

That about wraps it up, Michael... Anything you wish to say to the community at large?
Help.

Seriously. Now is the time. If you believe in Haiku and want to see a future for it, now is the time. Code if you can. If you can't, give as much as you can. We will put that money to work accelerating the development of Haiku. There is a window of time in which Haiku will have the chance to make a real difference in the world.

That time is slipping through our fingers. Slowly, torturously slowly, the other desktop os's are getting better.
At some point, there will be no compelling reason to switch away from whatever OS to Haiku. Now is the time - the pivotal point. If we don't get R1 finished and get on to R2, there won't be a point in bothering. If you believe in Haiku and want to see it in 2005, do something about it now.

Thank you Michael. Haiku News welcomes your concise, honest answers to our tough questions, and we hope our time spent will make a dent in informing the public at large as to the current and future status of the project. My advice to you, if you will take it, is that all good things come to those who wait, and work hard. You have certainkly done both. Thank you.

I enjoyed your questions, as I always do. :-D If anyone has any further questions, they can feel free to write me (mphipps1@rochester.rr.com).

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