RevLin OS: Help wanted

uh... how is this different from eyeOS (which could be booted off a kiosk type linux distro etc...or even haiku)? I can see how eyeOS could be modified to support your ideas ie running webserver locally with local file access...

Your post is a bit spammy btw mainly because it has nothing to do with haiku... and asking for developers on a site that is kinda already short crewed is rather awkward. Interesting project though I hope it pans out...

aggh ... three times I have tried to reply to have my post deleted

to sum it up

I didn't mean to bash your OS at all.... I found it interesting in fact

Go the secure web app route like distributed encrypted cloud or some such to differentiate REvLin from ChromeOS.. (like a P2P version of facebook. user pages cached on multiple computers and a token system to authorize access/decryption of friend pages)

It seems you have already started that a bit by having local file support

Oh and I think my question was legitimate as would be asking the same of haiku... obviously I didn't know anything of your project I mean there had to be something to make it worthwhile so ... I asked

Just an idea...

Since I'm fairly blunt, I'm just going to start out by saying that all I mean to do is understand the choices that were made regarding Revlin.
I understand that the main reason for your choice of kernel is drivers, but I think that asking for help in a forum devoted to an operating system that uses a different kernel is a little misguided. As wonderful as free/open source software is, distracting and splitting developer bases is not very intelligent and is unfortunately very easy to do. At the very least, I'm the kind of person who dislikes seeing redundant work, as in people maintaining several versions of the same software that could be merged together but because of ego or simply ignorance the groups don't come together. And while I mean no offense, RevLin, while unique in scope, seems to create a lot of unnecessary divergence. Perhaps, it is that I simply don't understand why you don't just use the vanilla Linux code and simply submit patches to the Linux kernel directly. I mean, it seems to me that your GUI is your main advantage, in which case I would recommend working on that and just that. Maintaining an entire OS is a lot of work and you could greatly lower the amount of work you have to do by doing one thing and doing it well...
Now then, that said, is there a reason (aside from drivers and a general lack of support for alternate GUIs) that you couldn't use Haiku as a base? I would think that if you enjoy using Haiku you would want to bring more developers to it (which creating an alternate UI may do, so long as you change nothing else.)

I found the use of a modified Linux kernel strange myself.

It seems like a lot of extra work to add onto that needed for the GUI and Userland changes that will already suck up developers's time.

Haiku uses a different kernel because it needs features that were not available in other kernels at the time, also the license to the kernel was a good match to the rest of the OS.

For the RevLin OS features listed I don't understand the need to change the kernel code at-all. The special features all look like they can run on top of the kernel in UserLand, not inside it.

I admit to not being particularly technically knowledgeable, but it was my impression that most of the cruft could be compiled out. If it can't I would think someone already has, maybe a minimal distro such as slitaz. If so you could borrow their kernel.

I happen to prefer things to be in userland rather than in the kernel. So adding audio, video, etc. to the kernel seems mistaken to me. Also what exactly does Rufs do? What does it provide that is not elsewhere?

I should probably repeat that I'm just trying to help you reduce the amount of work that you have to do.

I see, then it doesn't sound nearly as much of a fork as it originally did. That said, if you're looking for a stable kernel, borrowing one from Debian or Redhat (CentOS) might be a good shortcut; though those kernels may be a bit outdated for your purposes. Since I'm not aware of any major linux players offering something similar (except Google) you may be able to pair up with one of them, which would get you plenty of developers (though you'd probably lose a lot of control over the project.)

I would at least try to use ext4 before writing a new filesystem, but as I don't know what all that entails I may be wrong.

OSS is a good audio api. It's also generally faster then Alsa (even when emulating Alsa.) Though Alsa is embedded into the kernel and I'm not sure what removing it would do. So just sticking to Alsa is probably easiest. Also since Alsa has been embedded in the kernel it has more drivers.

+1!

You need to realize that people come here because they are specifically interested in Haiku, and that by proselytizing another project which could be even perceived as having a conflict of interest with Haiku, you obviously expose yourself to at least some negative reactions (if there weren't more, it's because we are a nice bunch).

I don't speak for the project, but personally I think this is not the place for this sort of topic. So while I wish you the best of luck with your project, I hope you can be more sensitive to our community members and take this discussion elsewhere.

Patrick already posts to various Linux forums, but you have to understand that people like him don't get much slack from such forums. Linux is a Code is King project. Idle dreams are worth zero lines of code.

You may have noticed that the RevLin web site has: mock-up screenshots, six or so contradictory editorial pieces about what RevLin will be, a competition that went nowhere, lots of half-arsed reviews and tantrum throwing, and no downloads.

That last item is the important one. None of it exists, it's just some guy writing a web site, fantasising about how great an OS would be if he made one. Such people are a dime a dozen.

And now he's off wasting the time of BSD hackers.

Honestly, I have to say I am truly shocked and disappointed by some of the responses that I see here. This dev came here asking for help with a project from anyone who may be interested. He did so respectfully. The fact that Haiku does not want/allow people to advertise or request help with another OS in the "Off Topic"(Sometimes "Miscellaneous") section of the forums is very rare(and quite possibly unique) in the FOSS culture. It is not uncommon for programmers to work on several different projects AT THE SAME TIME.

One the greatest strengths of FOSS is the open sharing of ideas, talent and resources. This is evident just by watching Linux and the BSDs. As far as pulling devs away from Haiku to work on another project--that's not very realistic. People don't spend large amounts of time and effort on a project just to up and leave it at a whim. IF any devs were to leave here for another OS, chances are they either: 1)had some previously unaddressed issues with Haiku that they felt would not be solved satisfactorily, 2)worked on Haiku because it was the best option available to them AT THE TIME or 3)saw the new OS as being closer in vision to something they would have preferred to work on to begin with.

I really hope the responses of some individuals is not indicative of the greater view of the community itself because that could end up short-changing the community in negative ways. Please try to keep an open mind.