OpenBeOS Newsletter #23.
31 July 2002, 18:35gmt, by , Contributing Journalist
From the EXTRA! EXTRA! department...

It's out once more. Newsletter #23 (mmmm.. i have a friend who's nickname is 23... nevermind) is out of the presses.

This time the articles run from Testing to the reason of choosing the MIT license over GPL, with a very interesting article about Marketing by the President of BeUnited.org, Simon Gauvin.

What we need is an OS that works, which means all of you at OpenBeOS. We know that everyone at OpenBeOS will stay focused, keep technology on the mind, and keep the faith because the future is big, and just got a whole lot brighter! We have only one request: WRITE CODE! and, oh yeah, tell everyone you know about BeOS too :-)

Agreed, and everyone's doing a terrific job, if i do say so myself.

So head over to the OpenBeOS Site and catch the latest.
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Xentronix Update and Rant.
18 July 2002, 16:02gmt, by , Contributing Journalist
From the ranting department...

Sorry for the following rant, read ahead only if you have nothing better to do.

If you head over to the Xentronix news page , you can see their latest update named Don't Mess With Fairplay!, and rightly so. It's not about coding or app updates this time, about something else, as much or more important, the community. And i couldn't agree more with Frans. What he talks about i've seen before, apps that have, in general, good voting and then one person giving that app the vote of 1. It's happened just now with Refraction and Sample Studio. In the same day...

Now, why would someone do this? I'm not trying to guess who did it, i really don't care about someone who would do that, not because the app deserves it, but for some other reason. The why... as i've said, i noticed this before when voting in some apps... maybe trying to disencourage the developer? Who knows...

Point is, the BeOS community, which i love, is considered amongst the best, friendliest in the business, but as in everything, there's the old black sheep. And now in these times, when unity is more and more needed, it comes out more clearly. I've seen this in other situations as well, those who go to IRC know what i'm talking about, few folks badmouthing developers, guys who are doing real work, who deserve nothing but our support and help whenever needed, don't contribute to the success of our campaign. Have no doubt people, these are exciting but also difficult times. This time there's no company behind the effort, no team of engineers working together, this time it's only us, the users and developers. Every help counts as you've read over and over again, if you're a coder, code, if you're a user test and give feedback. This goes for the OS itself, apps, drivers, everything.

If we don't stick together on this one, we have NO chance of pulling it off, the dream will be over. I know the progress seems slow, but it's never stopping. We all know making an OS from scratch (or almost) isn't easy nor speedy. And what was accomplished so far is astounding.

So people, put aside petty issues, put aside personal grief with someone else, unite and push/pull forward. We have one common goal: see BeOS (in whatever flavour it comes, OBOS, BlueOS, etc) thrive and grow. And for that we need coders, users, together.

Phew.. ok, end of rant, for those brave ones who read all of it, thank you and sorry if i bored you.
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Got CPU?
17 July 2002, 06:55gmt, by , Senior Journalist
From the fold-this! department...

Just a quick update to let you know that Team BeOS is still churning away at quite a few important projects, using the spare CPU cycles of computers from around the world.

Here's what Scottmc has to say about the issue. (Current leader of Team BeOS.)

Hey all,
This is Scottmc from TeamBeOS.com and BeDrivers.com. This is to alert everyone to the new BeOS clients available for a couple of the DC projects. One is called Eccp109 and already has 59 BeOS crunchers and has moved into 19th place!. The other is the newest project available to BeOS users and is called Distributed Folding. It is a Protien Folding project being run by the Univeristy of Toronto.

It took them a few extra weeks to get the BeOS client working along with Peter's help in a few places. So far Team BeOS only has 6 members on this project and are in 93rd place. Perhaps it's because most don't know about it yet? Many people kept saying "if only there were a medical type DC project with a BeOS client", well now is the time. The Folding@Home guys were taking a poll last month of which OS to port to next and BeOS came in near the top, but then they said we don't trust the poll, that there can't be that many people still interested in BeOS. Well lets shows those guys they are wrong! (There's 28 member on the Folding@Home team even without a BeOS client!)

For a list of the various DC projects in which Team BeOS participates in check www.TeamBeOS.com

-Scottmc

The BeOSJournal is involved with the Folding project, and is presently in third place after just under 2 weeks work. Rock on! ;-)
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BeUnited Seeks Donations.
17 July 2002, 06:46gmt, by , Senior Journalist
From the anti-ms-anyone? department...

The BeOS Journal would like to remind everyone that BeUnited is still actively seeking donations from the fine, supportive BeOS Community. Yes, I know that sounds cliche, but it's important to let everyone know of the struggles that BeUnited has taken on, especially as of late. If you have some extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket, consider helping out BeUnited stay afloat while they take on the task which I will now outline below, as from their website:

Today beunited is soliciting the aid of the public for financial support towards the expense of the Microsoft Antitrust Brief.

"We have received wonderful support privately from individuals and corporations", said Donovan Schulteis, chairman of beunited, "but now we need the public's assistance to keep the effort alive.

"If you believe that alternative desktop OS technology should exist in a more fair competitive market then help," Schulteis continues, "make it a reality by sending in a donation."

All donations to the Fund are tax deductible. Donations can be processed directly through PayPal.

Place Donations Here...

Well, there you have it. Did I make you feel guilty? I'm sorry. Everyone at The BeOSJournal, and numerous people in the BeOS Community feel the same. It's to stay alive, make a future for BeOS, and fight the good fight.

I want to remind you that if it wasn't for the long, hard road already travelled by us all, we would not have a future for an OS that deserves so much more. Remember that feeling that caught in your throat, and chest the first time you saw BeOS? It's time to do the right thing.

Thank you for reading. It means a lot to me, personally, as an avid BeOS user for many years. It means a lot to the people who saw the dream long ago, and are fighting in the code trenches to make it reality. It means something to the person seeking salvation from the depths of dare I say it, Microsoft control. Thank you. Now, back to work, and dig out your pocketbook. ;-)
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OpenBeOS Newsletter #22.
16 July 2002, 10:15gmt, by , Contributing Journalist
From the "It's that time of the month again" department...

Yep, it's here already.. damn it's fast. And we love it that way, don't we.

OBOS' newsletter #22 is out, with articles from Daniel Reinhold and Michael Phipps (two).

This time they have a look at code optimization, kernel calls and also dwell into OpenBeOS marketing, since it's been a hot topic... mmm.. ever since OBOS took off really.

So head over to the OpenBeOS Site.
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Xentronix News and Request.
15 July 2002, 09:06gmt, by , Contributing Journalist
From the graphic gurus department...

Yes, i'm back. I took a two week vacation from work, with the 2nd also being a vacation from computers... stop all that screaming, it was great. And now, for something completely different:

These guys don't stop... Xentronix has updated their site again, this time with not only Refratcion status update but also with a request. First, they ask for more beta testers, in their own words:

we are in need for some motivated and reliable beta-testers who are not only willing to test the program, but who also can add to the design issues.

Interested can apply by writing to . So please do and help out.

As the update, some great and good news. First the great: Refraction now doesn't crash anymore on Dano (you can see a screenshot here). It was a mistake done by Be in R5's BSlider, which was fixed in Dano (which had a new app Server as you might know). The good news are, not only are they fixing things but also adding new ones, as filters and tools.

You can check the whole enchilada right here

Frans and YNOP are awesome in their coding! Keep it up guys. It's definitely on my "TO BUY" list.
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Interview with Bill Hayden.
11 July 2002, 16:23gmt, by , Senior Journalist
From the he-did-what??? department...

The BeOS Journal finally decided to release round one of the interview with Bill Hayden, in order to not delay it any further. You will remember we asked for your questions back in June, 2002, and here they are, along with a few of our own. We'll post round two when Bill has more free time on his hands to complete it, and finish up this nice, lengthy interview sometime before the middle of August. (hopefully. ;-)

Read More...
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Are You an Ur-Quan Master?
09 July 2002, 08:04gmt,by , Senior Journalist
From the toys-for-me! department...

Sweeeeeeeet.

We just received a press release from Toys for Bob that they are re-releasing the game "The Ur-Quan Masters", not only for Mac, Linux, and Windows, but BeOS too, among other OS's.

Here follows their press release:

Toys for Bob is pleased to announce that we will be re-releasing "The Ur-Quan Masters", for modern operating systems. We will be using the 3DO version as our starting point, and although we don't have all the details worked out, just yet, we can share with you some of our goals (many of which were suggested by fans of the game. Thanks!):

• We plan to support Mac (both Classic and OSX), Linux, BeOS, and Windows.
• The game will be available free of charge.
• Players will be able to choose between text and voices.
• We're looking into the possibility of allowing for independant creation of language plug-ins.
• Data, such as graphics, fonts, music, voices, sound effects, and the script will be loaded from standard filetypes. This will allow fans to choose between classic music and 3DO music, or even import their own modifications into the game.
• Improved support for modern gamepads.
• We're looking into 2-player supermelee over the internet... Cross your fingers!

This list is by no means complete, and we'll continue to release more information as it becomes available. If you have any comments, we'd love to hear from you, and we'll be checking the comments at http://www.star-control.com/ on a regular basis.

This is super news folks! Please send these kind folks a warm, welcoming email for their hard work. Check out their website too. ;-)
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Spanish BeOS Edition Born.
04 July 2002, 07:37gmt,by , Senior Journalist
From the astalavista-bahy department...

Edición del revelador de BeOS ahora en español. Si usted puede leer esto, usted sabrá que la gente fina de http://www.beosaires.com.ar/ha trabajado en un editon español de nuestro sistema operativo querido.

If you can read that, then your Spanish is good, because mine is not! ;-) Seriously though... the fine folks at (www.beosaires.com.ar) have created a Spanish version of the BeOS Developers Edition, and are quite excited to share this news with the world.

Here are a few words from Double 'S', who wrote in recently to tell me this great news:

The edition has been created by the BeOS Aires Team (www.beosaires.com.ar) but is to be downloaded from http://213.96.206.14, where they will find instructions and limitations regarding our FTP server. Please do not add direct links to our ftp server, since users with download managers drain our server.

The release is a BeOS Developer Edition 1.0 (www.beosonline.com) with some apps updated, some extra apps that can be found in Spanish, Tracker & Deskbar in Spanish, Spanish User manuals and developing / programming manuals, and with all possible apps default to spanish language. The release notes are included in the distro.

Well, please tell the world BeOS is ALIVE (TM), NOW IN SPANISH !! Besides, these two last months 2 new BeOS WEBS in Spanish have born, and we also have a Spanish Speaking BeOS WEB related to BeOS Programming (www.macprogramadores.org/beos).

Thanks in advance Chris,
Double 'S'

We at The BeOSJournal think this is splendid news, as not only does this create new user communities, but it helps lift the spirits of everyone involved in the mostly english speaking BeOS Community. (Correct us if we are wrong on the language perception. ;-)

Here's a toast to everyone involved in this project! Adios amigos!
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TuneTracker 2 Reminder.
03 July 2002, 14:00gmt,by , Contributing Journalist
From the radio ga-ga department...

This one goes for all you Howard Sterns out there.

Tune Tracker 2 is out at the incredible price of $149.95, which is a given when you see all the possibilities this program has. But don't take my word for it, here's a quote from Radio World's review:

TuneTracker 2 from TuneTracker Systems is a $149.95 solution to the affordable automation software dilemma. Despite the low cost...this is a surprisingly powerful package that offers infinite walkaway capability for unattended 24/7 operations.

If you want more information (and you know you do) check the Tune Tracker site

Great work indeed by Dane Scott and everyone involved.
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YellowTab Updates.
03 July 2002, 09:52gmt,by , Senior Journalist
From the goin'-on-tour department...

YellowTab has updated their website with more information concerning BeGeistert, and the public offerings of their BeOS Development work, which includes a Roadmap.

From their website:

1. The Roadmap we are thinking about is:

• BeGeistert on Tour 01. - 0.4 August - We present Beta 1 to you
• BeGeistert 009 19. - 20. Oktober 2002 - We present Beta 2 to you
• November 2002 - The first fullversion of our BeOS Home- and Developeredition is ready
• January 2003 - The DeluxeEdition is ready

openBeOS Hosts Public Question & Answer Session via IRC.
03 July 2002, 07:21gmt,by , Senior Journalist
From the nerds-r-us department...

openBeOS is hosting a public Question & Answer session for this coming Saturday, and is inviting anyone interested in their progress, or just has a curious nature to attend.

The full skinny:

• When : Saturday, July 6th, 2002 at 1900 (7pm) EST, 2400 GMT
• Where : IRC Server : irc.openprojects.net -- Channel: #obos q&a
• Why : To involve the BeOS Community, and to talk directly with the Developers.

Be there, or be square. ;-)
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