Haiku makes me feel depressed

1

This is not to discourage development of this nice OS, just to share my personal opinion.

I think Haiku is kinda depressing in its current status for the next reasons:

  1. Poor hardware compatibility.

  • My USB printer doesn’t work. I would accept at least a “it barely works” but unfortunately, it is not even recognized by the OS. It is a fairly standard dot matrix printer that even MacOS can make it work with some generic drivers. It is a Fujitsu FMPR3020.

  • External USB floppy drive crashes the system during boot up. Simply, the OS stops booting as soon as it detects the drive. It works fine in any other OS call it Linux, MacOS or Windows right out of the box.

  • My GTX 750Ti is not recognized, so I am stuck with generic VESA drivers and un-optimal resolutions and screen refresh rates which makes everything look blurry and headache inducing.

  • My USB multicard reader (the typical with cf card, SD Card, Micro SD, etc) is not properly recognized. When plugged in, the OS detects some sort of generic/unknown USB device recently connected, but no matter how hard I try, cannot mount a simple SD card whatsoever. This works out of the box in any other OS.

  • Full size Corsair Mechanical keyboard with volume keys. Forget about these 3 or 4 extra functions.

  • Haiku doesn’t like much my generic HP mouse. Sometimes the scroll wheel works, and sometimes doesn’t. I don’t know if it is program specific thing or system wide, but it is annoying.

  1. Poor software support:

WebPositive is great for 90s style websites. Anything more advanced that that makes it flicker, then crawl and finally crash.

Trying to install Falcon, it takes literally 30 minutes to install from repo after downloading, but to no avail as it eventually crashes with “there was an error while installing” sort of thing.

Epiphany installs fine (after another 30 minutes, of course). Asks to reboot system (?). Then it might work, but no. Right after launching, the program simply crashes. Launching the debugger results in “for this debug report XXXXX file is needed but cannot be located. Install/Locate?”, so no debug report for you either.

There is no 7-zip. I would say it is a very basic compression tool widely used. Is there at least any alternative? How to compress/uncompress LHA files or anything else that is not zip/rar/gz/tar?

I didn’t check, but most likely there is nothing like CircuitMaker, and I would be surprised if there were any software like that.

No support for PDF annotations or PDF signing.

Trying to cleanly shut down the system is an impossible. Seemingly, debug report program prevented the system from shutting down. Cmon, what else do you want from me?

  1. Some design oddities (from my point of view):

Is there any “run command” similar to windows Win+R? Maybe I didn’t notice the keyboard shortcut, but I just miss that sort of functionality.

Haiku is slower than Windows running in the same machine despite being a very “barebones” OS. Probably because half of the hardware is using generic drivers, suppose.

Interesting that there is no support for hot-plug SATA drives, while virtually any other OS supports it. Hot-plugging a SATA drive makes the system unstable or something.

I am surprised that there is no way to properly customize the main menu. Just a small detail maybe.

There is no “pin to taskbar” that I am aware of. I think even Win95 or 98 had that sort of thing?

There is no proper file explorer (i.e. treeview, side pannel stuff, images preview, favourite folders, and so on), but Haiku seems to be stuck with a Win3.11-ish file browser, and even I think Win3.11 had more useful options. Not sure though.

I looks odd that you can scale icons in the taskbar, but the icons in the notification area are not scaled, so you end up with big app icons and tiny network/keyboard/volume icons.

I am annoyed that there is not even proper system security. A simple login password would be better than nothing and this has been like this since BeOS era. If an OS is to be used as a daily driver, this should be among the top priorities to be implemented.

Filesystem encryption maybe when frogs grow hair.

It is strange that Haiku installer doesn’t ask by default if you want to install the bootloader and the boot menu, like basically any Linux, but it is the user who has to do that process manually using the “tools” menu.

I installed Haiku on HDD1, and Windows on HDD2. Haiku bootloader detects OSes only in the HDD where the bootloader is installed. I don’t know if i am asking for an impossible, so maybe that is the case.

There is no “sleep” and/or “hybernate” function that I am aware of.

To bring back to the desktop a minimized window you have to double-click on its deskbar icon in the taskbar. If you single-click on it, it only shows a menu. Who would imagine that clicking on an item could mean “activate”? It reminds me to MacOS to open a file you don’t press “Return” but instead “CMD+H”. Because it makes so much sense.

Multiwindow navigation by default. Yeah! Win95 vives.

A lot of software from the repo doesn’t show the dependencies in the description or anywhere, only until you try to install it you might be asked to install them. Good luck cleaning up the system after uninstalling that software. Not sure if there is a clean up dependencies sort thing like apt-get autoremove or something.

So basically I am stuck in a system that is slow, doesn’t properly support any of my hardware, not even the most basic software works and on top of that, the system doesn’t want me to leave.

Anyway, wish you the best with the project and hope to see it improve in the foreseeable future.

4 Likes
2

You should try FreeDos or some BSD (GhostBSD?).
Haiku, not so bad…

1 Like
3

I understand the frustration of the OP, but not the bombing style of that post. It is very unfair.

Is there issues? Of course, and a lot. But the good attitude is not to come and discourage everyone. What’s been done is already a great achievement.

9 Likes
4

There is no autodetection of printers, but if you know the model you should be able to configure it properly.

WebPositive is great for 90s style websites. Anything more advanced that that makes it flicker, then crawl and finally crash.

Are you using a recent version? the one bundled with beta4 had flicker issues. (I’m one of the haikuwebkit devs, that is the engine under WebPositive)

For the other hw issues (apart from nvidia, which seems a bit hopeless atm… because it’s nvidia)
You can open tickets, and those should be solveable. Volume keys work in nightlies, the next beta may work better for you.

There is no 7-zip. I would say it is a very basic compression tool widely used. Is there at least any alternative? How to compress/uncompress LHA files or anything else that is not zip/rar/gz/tar?

It is available:
S p7zip 7-zip file compression program

I didn’t check, but most likely there is nothing like CircuitMaker, and I would be surprised if there were any software like that.

Fritzing and librepcb is available. How well those work I have no idea.

Is there any “run command” similar to windows Win+R? Maybe I didn’t notice the keyboard shortcut, but I just miss that sort of functionality.

Not in the default install no, maybe a third party programm

Interesting that there is no support for hot-plug SATA drives, while virtually any other OS supports it. Hot-plugging a SATA drive makes the system unstable or something.

Likely a bug, also worth a ticket.

I am surprised that there is no way to properly customize the main menu. Just a small detail maybe.

There is no “pin to taskbar” that I am aware of. I think even Win95 or 98 had that sort of thing?

Only the applicasions menu somewhat, but there is a ticket for that already iirc.

How would you pin to taksbar without a taskbar? : )

There is no proper file explorer (i.e. treeview, side pannel stuff, images preview, favourite folders, and so on), but Haiku seems to be stuck with a Win3.11-ish file browser, and even I think Win3.11 had more useful options. Not sure though.

Image previews, as thumbnails, exist. But there is no sidebar indeed. haiku uses drill-down for some similar usecases as treeview, but it is quite different (right clicking a folder lets you navigate to lower folders in the context menu)

I looks odd that you can scale icons in the taskbar, but the icons in the notification area are not scaled, so you end up with big app icons and tiny network/keyboard/volume icons.

Good point, deserves a ticket.

I am annoyed that there is not even proper system security. A simple login password would be better than nothing and this has been like this since BeOS era. If an OS is to be used as a daily driver, this should be among the top priorities to be implemented.

Haiku shares basically no code with BeOS (only tracker was imported, it has an open license)
The ScreenSaver application supports a window locker, but this is also only “meh” security.

Filesystem encryption maybe when frogs grow hair.

There is a third party tool for that, not sure what it is called atm.

It is strange that Haiku installer doesn’t ask by default if you want to install the bootloader and the boot menu, like basically any Linux, but it is the user who has to do that process manually using the “tools” menu.

No, it installs this automatically without asking. The boot menu is only for multiboot.

Currently there is no support to automatically install the efi loader though. (I do have a ticket for that)

To bring back to the desktop a minimized window you have to double-click on its deskbar icon in the taskbar. If you single-click on it, it only shows a menu. Who would imagine that clicking on an item could mean “activate”? It reminds me to MacOS to open a file you don’t press “Return” but instead “CMD+H”. Because it makes so much sense.

This annoys me too, I have the “expand new applications by default” option on. In that case it is “only” a header, and below it is the list of windows of an application and you can activate those.

Anyway, thanks for writing down your thoughs, i think this helps gound nicely : D

There are often posts about how Haiku should release version 1 now, and this I think shows that this is not the case now.

I do hope the next release, beta5. will work better for you. : )

5 Likes
5

How so? those are valid concerns, they can epxress them.

6

I mean:

  • create an account
  • sh*tpost
  • say bye

Not very friendly, and I’m kind of an arse my-self

6 Likes
7

They bothered to write down their thoughts and feelings about the project, even listing specific issues and considerations. Some of it is written with frustration in the fingers so to speak.

But they still took the time out of their day to write a detailed complaint about what did and did not work for them. I don’t see the need to critique the writing style of somebody that just wanted to let us know what they were frustrated with. : )

3 Likes
8

I used BeOs long time ago, so I feel like using Haiku. But thanks for the suggestions anyway.

9

Printer issue, I tried several configurations that closely match my printer the most, but nothing is printed, as if there is no communication between the PC and the printer. In MacOS (i mention MacOS for its lack of HW support), if I select a generic EPSON printer driver for dot matrix printers, the OS at least can send something and that gets printed (although without the correct fonts and with low resolution).

Net Positive, volume keys, etc: I will try the very latest build, that hopefully solves many issues.

7zip: thanks, will try that.

Fritzing and librepcb: work fine, but do not have all the functionalities that other software have. Similar situation to GIMP vs Photoshop.

Hotplug sata drives: I connected an HDD, but nothing seemed to happen. I waited and waited, but didn’t recognize it. But I will try the latest build just in case.

Pin to taskbar: what I mean is to place icons on the menu bar, or taskbar or whatever you call it, so you click on the icon and the program is executed.

Proper file explorer: working with files around is a bit of a hassle without a proper treeview function in a sidebar, or at least having a split-screen window situation would also help, similar to midnight commander or total commander on windows.

System Security: well, I guess a screensaver lock is better than nothing. At least it will stop any random person from messing around in the PC. Is there any way to launch a program right upon startup?

Bootloader: when I installed Haiku using all the default settings, only the bootloader was installed, but when I rebooted the computer, it complained that there was not OS. This was the only HDD available on the system and the only OS installed. After reinstalling haiku and specifically installing the boot menu from the tools settings, finally a grub-like menu appeared with just Haiku on it. But by default I was never prompt to install such boot menu or anything at all, so this could render peoples’ PCs unbootable and someone not experienced in this things might not know how to solve it.

10

Midnight commander is also available, if you prefer.

This is a bug, then, and should not occur.

In any case, for the stuff you want fixed please open a ticket at https://dev.haiku-os.org ; )

1 Like
11

Nvidia GPU hardware acceleration support is definitely not hopeless because of recently opened official Nvidia kernel driver and Mesa NVK Vulkan driver. Currently Nvidia GPUs have most chances in getting fully-featured hardware acceleration on Haiku because no drivers are need to reimplement from scratch and no Linux/BSD compatinility layers are needed.

All Nvidia troubles on Linux are Linux side fault.

2 Likes
12

Please actually read the OP’s post before responding. They have a GTX 750Ti which will never be supported by this, because it can’t load firmware blobs that nvidia uses for their new drivers.

The first architecture that has this capability is Pascal iirc.

Also, the problem here is framebuffer support, not gpu acceleration. Just plain 2d modesetting

13

It is possible to implement simple Nvidia modesetting driver for pre-GSP GPUs if someone will work on it. The problem with pre-GSP GPUs is inability to set clock rate etc. to get optimal performace, but it is unrelated to modesetting. Drivers for some old Nvidia GPUs already present in Haiku tree.

3 Likes
14

Welcome to the community! Let me start by saying that your OS choice shouldn´t have a negative impact on your emotional wellbeing :wink: If using Haiku makes you feel depressed it´s probably better if you use Linux, Mac OS or Windows , etc…

If you want to contribute something positive out of this frustration you can start by making bug reports about all the points you listed above. The more detailed information you provide the better. Will it fix anything immediately? No, but it will help Haiku become better over time (even if progress is a bit slow, mainly due to a quite small number of developers).
And another thing: If Haiku doesn´t work well with your hardware you can also use it in a virtual machine for now. Won´t fix all of your problems of course, but at least some of them.

And most importantly. Have fun. If not, using alternative OS makes no sense (at least in my opinion)

11 Likes
15

Indeed. OTOH, I have to wonder why people turn to alternative OS, if in the end they want it to behave like their old OS. From how the Task^W Deskbar should behave, to the file manager, to the last app they are used to. Anyway… on with the show.

3 Likes
16

Actually they are scaled, but it doesn’t take effect until a restart of Deskbar. Fixing that would require re-instantiating all Replicants, since Replicants can’t be resized that way, so it didn’t get done in the first-pass round of fixes I did to Deskbar here.

1 Like
17

Great hit list BTW and a lot of those issues need to be addressed and hopefully that will eventually happen. But I think you might have missed what Haiku is trying to achieve, which is to build a successor to BeOS, an operating system ahead of its time in the late ‘90s in most respects. I think for the most part Haiku has achieved what BeOS couldn’t because of the nature of how they were developed. From a usability standpoint, Haiku still needs more work before it’s ready for prime time. Haiku has come a long way since the OpenBeOS project got started back in 2001.

18

I don’t think that mentioning pain points one might have with Haiku (and mentioning “less painful, at least for me” alternatives) is wanting it to “behave like their old OS”.

Some things simply do not work for everyone (spatial mode, for example).

1 Like
19

Sure. Some points are valid and often even have long standing tickets addressing them. Others not so much.

1 Like
20

Have you tried to use it through a separate USB/LPT adapter?