This didn’t work at all for people who previously tried it. We have several computers from 15 years ago on which we didn’t really make any progress…
How is Haiku more useful than Linux and the BSDs for networking?
That’s on you to determine. I never made that claim.
Just my 2 cents, have you seen what the linux community did (asahi linux in primis) with Apple M laptops? It seems that linux works better on these machines than other common x86 ones. (Have you seen the work done on audio chip? Never done on any other chips).
I mean if Haiku was “my company” and I was near publishing my R1, being Haiku a lightweight OS, I will ship it along (optionally) a cheap completely supported and fine tuned machine.
Supporting more hardware is important to reach more users but having a crown jewel, a spearhead that shows the cutting edges of the system without compromises would be like landing on the moon and placing our flag
But, hey, thankfully we are not a company but a community 
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It’s my job to determine that Haiku’s goal of a general purpose desktop OS will yield more benefits than being an airgapped workstation OS?
You are asking for a change that makes no sense, so yes. The honos of proof is on you. I don’t see any benefits in your idea and it would make my computer work worse for no reason.
debian, fedora, freebsd , typical have many fans and stable cash source. so, they can be so commom system.
but not Haiku.
i read more , and more realize that " Haiku is suitable for special mini pc".
just like, cash register，Ticket buying machine，Industrial assembly line control computer，Advertising display screen，Pure office computer。( in fact, lots of mini pc work with windows7 in China. windows7, so stupid which spend so much MEM with mini pc)
limited hardware supported.
libreoffice, falkon, kde-suit , GIMP, libreCAD, QCAD, LyX, Calibre, openshot, blender …
limited software supported.
so limited , why not haiku-os do special mini pc thing?
you see, qnu only live in auto car , but it is so success. ( just a example. not take haiku-os as business ）
QNX exists in other places also, not only cars. But it is a different OS, with its specific strenghts and weakenesses.
A mini-pc has the same hardware as a normal PC computer, so not that special. The differences would be most with display adapters or audio , and that happens with any computer.
Since it runs normal applications ( office apps, browser, image editing, audio editing, etc ) , Haiku is suited to normal pcs. Limiting it to some niche computer wouldn´t help. As many people said, they want to use Haiku in their computers. And they do not use a cash register as a normal day-to-day computer
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I think I need an example context for my argument.
In five years time I might have say, a RISC-V PC running OpenBSD for all my internet facing tasks - Chromium, mutt, ii, tin, etc. I might have a selection of other TUI/CLI apps and some apps that use OpenBSD’s security features, like mupdf. The screen would be a circa 100dpi one, as that is what the the default configuration of xenodm and Xt apps target, and I’m still using fvwm.
My secondary rig might be my current daily driver with its 4K monitor, but it could easily be a laptop with a high screen dpi. Hypothetically I’m assuming that Haiku’s resolution independence would be class leading. On this machine I may run QCAD, as QCAD is relatively CPU-hungry and Haiku’s architecture, lightness and performance optimisations mean that QCAD can run faster than on any other platform. I transfer the generated PDFs to my OpenBSD system to upload them online.
I happen to have a HP 2133 netbook with a 160dpi screen, which was very high for 2008. The only reason I’m not running Haiku on it now is Haiku’s lack of power management features; if the CPU runs at full speed the heat will end up frying the chipset, so I set the clock to 800MHz to make it last longer.
my 6 years old laptop, is not working with Haiku. no wifi , no Graphics card .
but,my new mini-pc, seveal days ago, it work
very well with haiku-os . wifi, Graphics card, are working.
mini pc always use very typical hardware of old time.
this is very suitable for Haiku.
（by the way, my new mini pc is the most popular modle in alibaba website which is the largest Wholesale Market in China.)
Hardware key encryption, if you truly want security. Otherwise I can boot you pc etc with a thumb drive and take whatever I want.
Multiuser doesn’t secure your data, ever, it’s a logical fallacy
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I could be wrong, but I don’t think people are looking for NSA levels of encryption as much as they are having a way to stop the nosy neighbor from looking at your budgeting spreadsheet while you’re on the can. Or keeping the kids out of the Christmas shopping document.
For that, at the very least, a login password would be pretty handy. I doubt the neighbor is going to bring a bootable thumb drive over when you’re having coffee.
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I remember some time ago you could set to request bios password even to boot up the system, this is more convenient than a specific os login password.
Don’t know if still possible today
I honestly don’t see how it’s more convenient. Also, it may work great when the computer is off, not so great when the computer is already on.
You cannot boot your OtherOS dongle
So you need something like a screensaver lock (that lock should be integrated in the system and not a separate app ) no need for a login password
Again, it doesn’t matter. If you want an extra level of security by setting a BIOS password and turning your computer off whenever you aren’t using it, that’s great.
If you just want to keep house guests, kids, spouses, or whatever out of your stuff, it’s not so great. You wouldn’t need a screensaver to go back to the login prompt, but it would be handy. As would, say, a key combination to lock the screen. Or a menu item. So what?
Here’s another idea: make it optional. All you people who don’t want a login, turn the feature off. Those who want it can turn it on. Those who want an air gapped system can disable the network device (which you can do, right now). People that don’t, can keep the network devices enabled.
Jeez, I don’t even need a password login for my systems, but I can certainly understand why some people would.
I’m with you in this, for me it can stay disabled by default and if this ever would be integrated, I hope it will not cause overloads. I love Haiku’s lightweight.
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Concerning multi-user and separating root and user privilege within a personal machine, I think there is a better way now.
Both Google’s Fuchsia and Genode / Sculpt are so-called “capability based”, that is to say the programmes are only permitted to access specific resources and files on a “need-to-do” basis. Can it be any coincidence that both these modern systems have converged on this solution? Would this be much harder to retrofit into Haiku than the older concept of multiple users and privilege tiers?
Actually per app encrypted data type structures are more secure the “multie user” time share schemes. Those only exist to prevent 2 users on a mainframe from accessing and operating on the same data at the same time.
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I do not think it is very appropriate to “pigeonhole” Haiku in such a specific market.
Haiku is fine with its current target: desktop computing.
It just needs more development.
An interesting case would be to create a specific version, for a specific task, using a common base, for example, a cash register.
But attention to my previous statement. I am NOT suggesting to create a “Haiku distribution”. That would be the worst idea. That would bring fragmentation to an ecosystem that is currently very small, and that would only make development worse.
The idea would be to compile a minimal Haiku base (a cash register doesn’t need a web browser, or an IRC client), along with a collection of scripts to install batch programs, for the specific task.
Continuing with the cash register example, an interactive script could install specific drivers for the peripherals used, such as the barcode reader, or the laser gun.
A program that uses the standard API can be installed and run on any machine, so everyone wins.