I am a great enthusiast of free and open source OSes .
Like:
GNU/Linux:
Since it’s a Unix clone it’s stable. It has great potential but lacks the FreeBSD-style documentation.
Freebsd:
since its based on Unix its ridiculously stable . It has great potential but lacks the
user-friendly installer and eye candy looks .
Freedos:
it is a MS Dos clone .
React OS:
It is in development (version 0.312) it mimics the Windows in every possible way and is compatible with windows apps/drivers . But it has better security . good for those who are average users known only to windows .
Open solaris/open indiana :
I haven’t used these so can’t say anything about those .
share your experience / views
and please add if you know some other OS(es) which I didn’t’ mention here .
I am interested in many of the above.
I also tried Aros, Syllable and Kolibri
The AROS Research Operating System is a lightweight, efficient and flexible desktop operating system, designed to help you make the most of your computer. It’s an independent, portable and free project, aiming at being compatible with AmigaOS at the API level (like Wine, unlike UAE), while improving on it in many areas. The source code is available under an open source license, which allows anyone to freely improve upon it. http://aros.sourceforge.net/
Syllable is becoming an easy-to-use free software operating system for the home and small office user. It is powerful, lightweight and extraordinarily fast and responsive. http://web.syllable.org/pages/index.html
Kolibri is a small x86 assembler hobby operating system. It forked off MenuetOS in 2004 and has mostly been developed by ex-USSR community since. API and ABI is being enreached with developer-friendly features. User interface is not that good yet but we are trying to improve it as well. http://www.kolibrios.org/
and extraordinarily dead. Since 2 years there is no other realease. Even their leader Vanders abandonated them. Now Kaj is the leader, which is now “the leader”, and the only the developer. (The others are not really active). Kaj it self is also not developing, sice he has nearly no programming skills in c++. So he tries to do a little scripting and doing small things.
Even their newest “development build” is about 1,5 years old. In comparision Haiku has every day a new development build.
Also the owner of osnews (thom) declared syllable as dead in an article some month ago.
Most other developers went away, since kaj started to behave like a king of syllable.
Yes syllable is fast, like freedos is fast too :-)).
The app server of syllable is very poor. The whole syllable api is in an infantil state. For example: Try to write a program which has two buttons, a green button with the text “button1” and a second button which is red with the text “button2”. You will notice, it’s not possible in an easy way. You have to rewrite all the drawing of the button. You can not simply say: make background green. It is missing the most trivial functionality. And it was a lot of bugs. Even the smallest ones, which were reported about 5 years ago, havent been solved.
Their pack of developer tools (developers deleight) are about 3 years old.
Syllable doesnt in the last year as many changesets as Haiku in a good day.
And Kaj seems to be crazy :-), he is writing on the syllable forum:
Haiku tries catching up Syllable :-))).
