What would it take to get an updated client for BeOS?
With Haiku (pre-alpha) now demonstrating pretty good binary-compatibility with BeOS R5 - I'd like to ask if we can pursue the option of an updated client for these OSes.
Several members of Team Haiku would love to run their SB clients on their favorite hobby OS
Is there anything we can do to help this process?
Well, honestly, I've never touched BeOS/Haiku/etc. I just attempted to use the Haiku image under Parallels, but it fails miserably. Unless there's an easy way to install the OS so I can tinker, the chances are pretty slim.
The problem is: Haiku is currently pre-alpha and doesn't have any build tools installed by default. The pending Alpha release will have this support soon.
Parallels users have succeeded in running it by using the ImgTool to fix the disk size (not sure why this is - apparently Parallels can't use the raw disk image as it is). VMWare is actually much easier to use and demonstrates excellent performance for Haiku.
BeOS R5 is completely installable and has development tools - but lacks a lot of modern drivers (BeOS Max Edition V4 b1 is the best choice)
Zeta supports a lot of modern hardware, but is commercial and now defunct (like BeOS was).
Many dedicated Haiku testers have been able to load the BeOS R5 development tools onto their Haiku installs and compile working software - but software compiled *ON* BeOS is upward binary compatible with both Haiku and Zeta - so this is where I would focus efforts in order to support all 3 OSes with a single binary release.
Another interesting detail is that BeOS and Zeta use an "updated" GCC 2.95.3 still because GCC3 and newer have broken ABI compatibility with C++ binaries generated with GCC2. Haiku can be also compiled with GCC4, but a GCC4 binary for Haiku will not currently run on a GCC2 version of Haiku which is required to retain binary compatibility with BeOS R5 and Zeta.
If it would help, I can probably get you a BeOS R5 vmware or QEMU image complete with build tools. I can probably also do the same with Haiku.
The latest builds seem to not work with Parallels anymore. I've tried all the posted tricks..Originally Posted by umccullough
Anyways, if you could get a BeOS R5 vmware that'd probably make life easier.
I appreciate your willingness to consider an updated BeOS/Zeta/Haiku port. This is a much more positive response than I've gotten in the past!
I will do what I can to prepare a BeOS R5 (personal edition for legal reasons) VMWare image complete with build tools, etc. and get it to you soon.
Shall I PM you when I have something?
BTW, I will be building and testing this image using VMWare Server 1.x (as this is what I run at home at the moment). It should be compatible with VMWare Server 2.x, VMWare Player 1.x/2.x, VMWare Workstation 5.x and hopefully VMWare Fusion as well (if you're using OS X and have a beta or whatever).
Yeah, PM me when you do.
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