Hello everyone.
I’m starting this thread acknowledging my ignorance about Haiku, hoping to get your advice and also to share my thoughts on this system.
Please allow me to add just a couple of lines to my background. I started with computers at a very young age, influenced by my father, whom I saw, when I was about six years old, assembling a mail-order computer kit from Elektor (I still have the operating system on a vinyl record). Therefore, I’m from the Atari, Spectrum, Amstrad, Commodore, and Amiga generation. Then came PCs, and little by little, I’ve dedicated my entire life to working in computing, both professionally and personally.
A couple of years ago, though it seems like only yesterday, my father passed away, and I felt it was a shame that the equipment he worked on or used for experiments (cooling, with the telescope, etc.) would be lost due to the end of support for Windows 10. Between his and mine, there are more devices than some computer stores have, so there was a real, practical motivation behind my intentions. However, after studying different systems and after several tests, Haiku surprised me.
I don’t think I can really explain what happened; it was a kind of love at first sight. I simply liked it. Its architecture, its design, its simplicity, its power—everything it offered. So I proceeded to install it on several computers, some with problems and incompatibilities that I resolved thanks to an active community and the wonderful command line. And that led me, out of curiosity, to install it on very old computers, the kind you have forgotten in a closet… computers that Haiku has brought back to life and, more importantly, a potential use.
Haiku has brought back memories of a different era of computing. After so many years working in the field, some of the passion eventually fades, but this system has helped me rediscover it, including the curiosity and excitement of seeing every advancement and improvement.
Now for my question. I apologize for going on at such length, but I wanted to share what Haiku has meant to me and also connect with others who have experienced the same.
My needs are quite simple. Much of what’s done today is done through a web browser (tested every one available at depot), along with LibreOffice, an FTP client, a code editor, and little else. That’s all I need to work, and Haiku provides it. The problem is that I work with client data, login credentials, passwords, and other information, and Haiku doesn’t seem particularly well-suited for security. I can overlook physical and perimeter security, but I’m concerned about the internal workings, the potential for a virus in the medium or long term, and password compromise.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a criticism. I fully understand the current state of development and the needs, but I’d like to know how realistic it is, if anyone is already doing it, to use Haiku as a daily operating system. I’ve already read some related posts, but I’d appreciate an opinion on this specific case I’m explaining.
Finally, let me add that among the alternatives I’ve considered, from BSD to Linux to Chrome, among many others, and I absolutely dislike the approach to integrating artificial intelligence into browsers and applications. In my opinion, it opens up unpredictable attack vectors. That’s another reason to use a system like Haiku, I could say—and I don’t mean to offend anyone—a more basic system that doesn’t have some of the supposed advantages and new features. Therefore, if I want to use AI, I activate it manually from the browser.
Well… that’s all. Again, my apologies for the length of this post. If I were to evaluate it objectively, prudence would prevail and I wouldn’t use it, but Haiku has won me over. I enjoy it, and that’s why I feel compelled to “bother” you all and ask for your advice as more advanced users.
Thank you in advance.