Alpha Updates

1

Hi, its great to have Haiku running on my computer
It last ran BeOS years ago, before some parts were upgraded

But I was wondering whats next

Will the next download be a new full version ? or will it the R1 ?
Or, as programs and parts of the OS fixed, updated, added, etc
Will there be a little service packs, patches, or updates ?

I remember BeOS 5.0, had the 5.01, and then the 5.03 update
That was very nice, it was small, it worked perfectly, kept you up to date, fixed a few problems

That would be great if we could get a Alpha 1-A patch, Alpha 1-B patch, etc etc etc
Maybe a weekly or monthly download, patch or update, that would give us all something to look forward to. And at the same time, fix some of the small problems were all having

Plus, if OSnews etc, reported on a new download each week, more people might take notice, and believe Haiku is really going somewhere

Now that I dont see nightly builds / downloads, listed on the website any longer
It kinda feels like the next download / change, is real far away
And I’m sure some of the smaller problems are keeping some people from using Haiku

Anyway, Thanks for A1, its great to see that beautiful simple blue desktop across my screen again
Once It has a few more drivers, lan, etc, I can start using it on a daily basis
It will be so nice to be anti-virus free again, and have control over my own computer again

2

I’m totally new to Haiku but update’s once in a while would be really cool!

3

I would say it’s a safe bet that the next release will not be R1. Maybe another alpha, then a couple of beta releases.

Yes, downloading 160 MB or more is a schlep. We don’t all live in places where bandwidth is cheap. However, it is about the same as a new OpenOffice release.

Th dev team for Haiku is tiny and right now, I can understand that they can’t really be worried about this issue. When R1 rolls around, I’ll be clamouring for something like apt-get on Linux!

4

The next version will be alpha2 (its already in the bug tracker) I don’t they have decided on a date for release yet.

Before the alpha was out we were getting nightly builds with minimal packages… they might start making those again for testing purposes and you can see what progress is being made with them as well

5

Yes, next release is Alpha2 without any scheduled release date. I cannot say when they’ll release Alpha2 but hopefully they try to adopt a 6 month release cycle to keep excitement going ( ie: I believe they should release every 5 to 7 months ).

Haiku R1 will come with a package manager that is for certain.

I already created a package manager but it needs a few fixes when I have time. I hope to add additional features to it also. Check it out below.

Packager
http://www.haikuware.com/directory/view-details/development/app-installation/packager

Newer database
http://www.haikuware.com/directory/view-details/development/app-installation/packager-dbz

6

Hello thanks i try your packager and is so cool :slight_smile: could be thanksful a way to add new features and reposiorys …and a way to update from images tooo…:S maybe is so much …but is just a suggestion :slight_smile:

7

Thank you skarmiglione. I know, still needs work but good start. I will add new features and improvements when I have time later on. I want to add more repositories too but right now the packages are off a file hosting site I registered with until Haiku creates public repos with BeOS/Haiku programs.

To update Haiku images would be too hard with Packager because lots of files are being changed all the time. I did create a ticket suggesting Haiku offer binary diffs which are very small in size and can be applied to the Haiku Alpha1 ISO to create Haiku latest version ISO.
http://dev.haiku-os.org/ticket/4637

binary diff looks at the differences between two binary files and creates a patch file. You then just download & use the (smaller) patch file to update your older version (Alpha1) to the latest Haiku (ISO) image.