Distribution Ideas For the BeOS.
Jun 19, 2004 06:05 UTC, by Chris Simmons, Senior Journalist
From the marketdroid-gaskets department...

Ever wanted to make your own distribution of an operating system?
 
Well soon you will be able to. Right now, one can download the entire OpenBeOS and compile the latest code from the CVS Server, anytime they wished. Not only that, but anyone can come along, package together the latest CVS version, compile and bundle along with the OS any available third party applications (if they allow it), and name it as they please, thanks to the generous MIT license.
 
Wow, sounds like a Linux distribution to me.. But wait, there's more to this story than meets the eye! The original idea behind the BeOS was to provide a clean, efficient and intuitive Operating System not burdened with the backwards compatibility issues of other more mainstream products. With the OpenBeOS team striving to first replicate in their R1 the look, feel and binary-compatiblity of BeOS R5 Pro, it seems at first glance to be falling into the same old trap. How to move forward, while staying linked to what came before...
 
The key is compartimentalization. This is where the idea of making a distribution takes a slightly different bent under the BeOS Way. Not to say this is a bad thing, mind you, just a little different. OpenBeOS still adheres to the founding principles of the BeOS by allowing nearly each and every aspect of the system to be replaced entirely without greatly affecting the rest of the sytem. This is what Be Inc. was working on when they announced BONE, the new Media Kit, and shortly after, releasing OpenTracker and OpenDeskbar.
 
By having clean separation of high level components that are cleanly defined, and without the messy intermingling of dependent code libraries, it becomes possible to swap in completely new features intended for purposes specific to a target audience. Ok, that was waaay too much marketdroid-speak for one day, so let me say it simply; You will be able to Mix n' Match your BeOS at some point in the future.
 
Want to make an educational distribution for the K12 network? (Kindergarden through grade 12.) Want to provide a couple of local netcafes with a locked down version of BeOS, multi-user, and ready to surf online using MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc etc? Need a rescue disc that can access broken or despondent workstations?
 
All of this and more can be yours for the low, low price of .... your download effort, spare time, and of course, your creativity in marketing your distribution to the public.
 
Perhaps it is too early to speak about distributions when the hardware support is still lacking. However, I've heard some good things about the recent hardware situation and how BeOS is gaining support for modern devices such as USB, Firewire, IDE, and so on. The activity alone of the CVS commits is quite a pleasant surprise, and encouraging to know that in such a short time, things have finally started shaping up nicely.
 
So how about it? Want your own distribution of the BeOS? Start planning now. The world is your oyster, as they say. As much as I hate using cliches, I think this one applies to the future BeOScape.