Haiku's package manager presents installed packages as a read-only filesystem, so unlike other systems, it is not possible to just delete or rename a problematic driver or library. However, individual packaged files can be prevented from being exposed at boot time.
In the Boot Options menu, there is a "Disable components" option available to accomplish this. However, this method will only let you disable components of the main (haiku) system package, and only until the next time you reboot.
With the advent of package management, there are now different ways to install an application.
1. A proper .hpkg package
Either installed automatically via HaikuDepot or with pkgman in Terminal, e.g. WonderBrush, or downloaded off some site. When using HaikuDepot or pkgman, you're all set. If downloaded somewhere else, just move the .hpkg file into /system/packages/ and (in case of an application) it'll appear in /system/apps/.
2. An "old", self-contained archive
Those come traditionally in form of a zipped up folder. As before, you can unzip that anywhere in /boot/home/ (besides ~/config/ which is read-only) and launch the app just like you did before package management.
Qualifying students can apply for a Haiku project (see the list of suggested projects below) between April 22nd and May 3rd, 2013.
For details about how to apply, please check out Students: How to Apply for a Haiku Idea.
According to other mentor organizations, the most successful Google Summer of Code projects are the ones proposed by the students themselves.
The following list represents our ideas and wishes of our project. However, suggesting your own idea is encouraged!
What info do you need in the application? See the Application Template below for reference
What if I still have questions? Send a message to the Haiku Mailing List or contact Haiku's Google Summer of Code administrator (Matt Madia).
Are there any other requirements? Applying students are required to submit a code contribution to our bugtracker. This could either be a task marked easy, TODO commented in code, Code style cleanup, or any other unlisted task. Submitting code that relates to your project will indicate a higher level of understanding and ability. The number and difficulty of resolved issues will be taken into consideration when evaluating your application. It is suggested to include the keyword "gsoc2013" on tickets that contain submissions, as this facilitates finding them in the future.
Why do you want a code contribution before I'm accepted? This serves several purposes. It displays that you have the most basic skills that are required: building Haiku from source, running Haiku either natively or inside a VM, and using tools for online collaboration (bug tracker, mailing lists, IRC, etc.). More importantly, it provides our mentors with some insight into each individual student's motivation and abilities. It is an opportunity for you, the student to showcase yourself and to convince us that you are indeed the right person for the job.
Should I use Haiku R1/A4 or a newer nightly image? R1 alpha 4 was released in November 2012 and is sufficiently new enough for development purposes.
However, feel free to use a GCC 2 Hybrid nightly image.
A GCC 2 Hybrid is the current release style for Haiku. It can run and compiled both GCC 2 and GCC 4 code.
Building the PowerPC compiler toolset is quite easy and involves generating gcc binaries for your platform. For a complete list of flags for the configure script, see Haiku's Configure Options
From the haiku source directory, run the following. (be sure to adjust the options to match your build environment.)
If you want to run configure again to tweak some more options, you need to tell it to configure for PowerPC. This is done with the --cross-tools-prefix option:
