I dropped a hint to Finnish computer/IT media about the coming Haiku beta release. I was surprised that one of the largest Finnish IT-magazines actually released the forthcoming beta release on their website:
There are plenty of potential users and programmers in Finland (and all over the World) that have never heard of Haiku and this way they might get to know the coolest operating system ever. I think Haiku users should let the media know the existence of the Haiku when the beta is released
See how an official release attracts media attention - then hpefully user and developer interest. A new beta release once/twice a year is a good idea to keep the interest level high.
Therefore, they also offer a haiku version, would otherwise make no sense. Just do not know if these now offer a nightly version instead of the alpha 4.1
I think more people using Haiku actively per day will make the biggest difference.
There will be a difference if 1000 people use something, as compared to, say
50.000 (not that I think the initial boost will be anywhere near as much, but I
am pretty sure it will be noticed and it will be noticable).
By the way on that note - what new Haiku users REALLY also need is high
quality documentation, blog entries, wiki entries etc…
I can quickly find out and store useful information but I need someone else
who knows more than I do to also write about it. I do this all the time on
Linux by the way when I face a new problem, I first investigate about it,
collect and store useful things and move on that way (and if the problem
needs some text to solve it, including autogenerating files, I write ruby
code to solve these issues; ruby is great; linux is ok).
Might I suggest someone ring up Ars Technica about the beta here? They are a major publication who have extensively covered BeOS in the past. They even have a series called The Afterlife of BeOS that begins with an article about ZETA OS 1.0 and ends with this review of Haiku alpha 4. There is also this article about one of their staff trying to do everyday work with one of the nightlies.
Who runs the @haikuOS Twitter account? They could ping up Jeremy Reimer and/or Sean Gallagher. They are two current writers for Ars who have posted before about Haiku and BeOS.
I’ve sent a tip regarding the beta release to them yesterday. Lets wait till the next week. Maybe they’re going to publish the review instead of just a news about it.
You’re right, but unfortunately we only ever hear that we have to do more, but themselves are these people not interested in doing the same thing.
I have been writing manuals and documentation for BeOS / Zeta / Haiku since 2004 and publish them through our knowledge base. Unfortunately, we have so far found only a few who join the knowledge base and also write articles or write manuals.
http:///www.besly.de
Of course, that’s not everyone’s idea. But what I always find shocking is that many people have never heard of the knowledge base.
Most people are so extreme on this site and the forum fixes the edge projects hardly find attention. At BeOS times there were various user groups and news pages, today there is only Haiku-Os.org left (from the point of view of popularity).
I decided to record a quick and dirty video intro to Haiku on the Beta. I wanted to quickly get something ‘out there’ to try and help with publicity a bit in my own little way. Please share if you like, and add complimentary comments on YouTube like “Wow that OS is fast!!! I’m totally downloading that right now!”. 8o)
(@humdinger: This is NOT the video I was talking about last week. I promise I will get around to those. Scouts honour!)
There are a few enthusiasts who have posted on LinkedIn with links to various announcements of the release. I have counted about a dozen posts (including mine). So far, these have not gathered many likes/re-shares…
From what I noted, Haiku Inc. has a profile on LinkedIn but no posts. A short announcement on that channel about the release may be appropriate?
@arstechnica should probably make an article about the beta of @haikuOS, since they've written about Haiku and BeOS before quite a bit. If it is happening, will the author be @thepacketrat or @jeremyreimer?
