I was just wondering what priority the Haiku project plans to place on binary compatibility over time. I know initially it is pretty high since the major goal is binary compat. with BeOS R5 but what about moving on from there?
I have been using Linux for hobby development over the past 10 years or so, and am at the point where I just can’t take it any more. Linux is such a moving target, binary distribution of anything is a nightmare. Different distributions, library versions rapidly changing, the occasional ABI changes, it’s exhausting. Any complaints about not being able to run old binaries on a Linux box are always met with comments about downloading and compiling old library requirements, or a lecture on the evils of closed source/binary distribution. And the less said about the hostility and problems for closed source/binary Linux driver developers the better. I love developing ON Linux, but hate developing FOR Linux.
Not that I am a Windows fan, but I can take a very large number of apps compiled for Windows95 and run them on Windows Vista with little to no issue. I find that extremely important for a desktop OS. If getting a program to work on a user focused desktop system ever MENTIONS source code, something is wrong imo.
So, I am looking for a new hobby OS home… =). I have compiled and started playing with Haiku and am very impressed (never did use BeOS). Just wondering if you guys share one of my higher priorities for a desktop OS.
Anyway, to make a short story long, is there going to be a focus on making it so I can compile a program for Haiku and, assuming no ugly hacks/undocumented API calls , run it on Haiku 5-10 years later?
Regards,
Rick Hansen