Linked URLs

• Six Years of Using BeOS. : http://haikunews.org/820
• Chris Simmons : mailto:cs.haiku@gmail.com
• ADD : http://www.add.org
• Asperger Syndrome : http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswhatisit.html
• r /> : br />

     Six Years of Using BeOS.

  
  Jun 03, 2004 14:41 UTC, by Chris Simmons, Senior Journalist.
  From the melancholy department...
  

  
  I was feeling a little under the weather this past week, and in my delirium, decided to write about some recent insight I've had with the BeOS.
  
  "Just start writing"
  
  Those three words are sometimes the last resort I use to create a new article for The BeOSJournal. The reason is simple; I tend to get easily distracted when I really should be focused on the task at hand. Namely writing and reporting the news of the BeOS Community.
  
  I've been told I have mild ADD, but after a bit of research I suspect I have Asperger Syndrome, a common misconception it seems.
  
  What does this have to do with BeOS? Not a thing, really. But to me, a lot. I've had a recent spell of downtime, where I have contemplated my life in hindsight, how I've come to be where I am now, and where I want to go. Along with that is my immense love of the BeOS, the concepts it emboldens as an Operating System, and why I think it will succeed in a few years time.
  
  It was six years ago, to the day (today) that I first glimpsed the BeOS. The thought struck a chord in me a few days ago, that six years has passed! I am amazed at how much time has passed, but yet it doesn't seem all that long. I remember clearly all of the good periods where Be Inc employees hung out on BeShare, the mailing lists were brimming with excitment, and product announcements from dozens of companies made the headlines.
  
  Normally I would have thought it quite sad given how things have changed for what appears to be the worse, and I would report it such, with despair. But now is not the time for despair! It is true that there is no longer a great company leading the helm. It is true there are not as many companies blaring with press releases, making us wait with baited breath. It's just different now.
  
  I am not going to turn this piece into an anti- soapbox diatribe, but I will say this: I'm tired of the current choices in the OS market. I want the elegance, style, and just-works-attitude of the promised BeOS from yesteryear. And for that, I know I will have to work at doing my part to make it happen. It is happening, bit by bit, slowly, oh...... ever so slowly. But it is happening. I can see it shaping up into the Operating System of my dreams. To this end I have volunteered my coding abilities, meager as they be, with the Preferences Team, and have completed six command-line apps already. If I can grapple with C++, then anyone can! ;)
  
  We have plenty of time to get it right. As a group, we, the BeOS Community, certainly have the skill necessary to complete the task(s) hand, overcoming each milestone and obstacle along the way. I really feel the OpenBeOS developments have shown we as the next generation can achieve great things, and have already done so, despite a traditional company model to rely on.
  
  To the hard-working and humble developers among us: I applaud. You deserve no less than the recognition of your peers, and to know you are appreciated. It would be wonderful if you were given financial compensation more often for your great work.
  
  Here's to another six years.