Date: Mon, 01 Dec 1997 09:52:35 -0500 From: Jerry Hicks <wghhicks@ix.netcom.com> To: Mark Mayo <mark@vmunix.com> Cc: "hackers@freebsd.org" <hackers@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Out of Box experience (Was: Re: How is selection made of what goes into CDrom?) Message-ID: <3482CF33.EDC09FC@ix.netcom.com> References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.971130224527.25445B-100000@kai.communique.net> <19477.880953184@time.cdrom.com> <19971201020226.10663@vmunix.com>
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Mark Mayo wrote: [snip] > Has anyone ever looked into the QNX micro-gui (or whatever they call it > these days) stuff?? You can download a floppy from their site that > will boot a full "X-like" GUI, run a web server, make a PPP connection, > and give you a web browser. It's nothing short of astonishing. Their > technique appears to be very similar to FreeBSD's, essentially > uncompressing a kernel and firing up a MFS to hold everything. Very > Unix like, although it would appear QNX is trying to disassociate > themselves from anything UNIX'y lately... We're QNX developers over here too. QNX is a neat operating system, providing many of the advantages of a POSIX compliance in an embeddable microkernel system. As you mentioned, Photon (the GUI), is pretty fantastic, but other than a similar appearance, has very little in common with X. The design goals are very different, intended to be embedded into the smallest of systems. Although the POSIX compatibility features of the system do give a Unix'y feeling, the runtime structure of the system is very different from most Unix based systems as well. And once again, it is intended for different applications that typical Unix systems. Interestingly, at their conference in Toronto last October, Gordon Bell of QNX emphasized the importance of the freeware phenomenon and promised their best efforts to contribute to and gain the benefits of cooperating this channel. I would say they are intentionally pursing niche markets very different from Unix, while working to maintain an acceptable level of source code compatibility with Unix. Development for the Photon GUI, however, is not source code compatible with anything else, being a QNX innovation. > > The second I started the thing up, visions of the slickest OS install > in the world were flashing through my head... The FreeBSD Photon-GUI > installer. Now that would grab attention. It *is* very pretty. > > I wonder if QNX would *ever* consider donating the tools to FreeBSD > in return for a "QNX ad" at the start up of the install? I doubt > it, but they are less and less "competition" all the time. I know > someone who works there, I'll give him a call and run the idea by him. > At the very least, I'm going to see how much they charge, and if > they have a royalty free license, which I'm sure they do. Man it would > make such a kick-ass FreeBSD installer!! :-) > They've got a free educational program, but are necessarily very commercially oriented. Somehow, I don't believe this would happen :( They are very much aware of FreeBSD and *BSD Unix in general. Their TCP stack was initially ported from 4.3BSD. They have always been an excellent vendor for us. Cheers, Jerry Hicks, jerry_hicks@bigfoot.com > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Mark Mayo mark@vmunix.com > RingZero Comp. http://www.vmunix.com/mark > > finger mark@vmunix.com for my PGP key and GCS code > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Win95/NT - 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to > an an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, > written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition. -UGU
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