Slashdot Mirror
GNUstep 0.6.5 freeze
teferi writes " The GNUstep project, a GPL'ed implementation of the OpenStep environment, has gone into a code freeze for the 0.6.5 release. The base library is 94% done, and the various parts, including the DPS/DGS graphics backend are coming along well. "
GnuSTEP aims to re-implement the entire OpenStep spec under GPL. When this is done, you can expect about 200 NeXT apps to suddenly appear on Linux, FreeBSD, etc.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
NeXTSTEP (an operating system) was first, and had a damn good programming model, but originally only ran on NeXT's hardware.(which was pretty sweet, but also pretty expensive) (and also one version on RS/6000, running on AIX, again fast, sweet and expensive.).
NeXT then began making moves to dump hardware and make NeXTSTEP available on Intel hardware.
Right around that time, they also started development on OpenStep, which has a very similar object hierarchy to NeXTSTEP, but uses a better object allocation model, and has renamed many methods to make the API "cleaner".
To move an application from NeXTSTEP to OpenStep, you ran a series of scripts that would convert to the new API.
OpenStep was made to run on several OS's including Solaris, Mach (from NeXT), HP/UX and Windows. OpenStep meant two things at the time, both the API and the NeXT delivered operating system as a whole. One was called OpenStep, and the other was OPENSTEP. You guess which was which.
Any ways, Apple bought NeXT so that the NeXT management team could take over Apple, and now all that API is part of OSX Server and soon OSX.
It is easy to move a program from NeXTSTEP to OpenStep or OSX Server. I moved Xox, an arcade style shooter with a few days of work.
It is trivial to move the average program from OpenStep or OSX Server to GNUstep. In many cases the same code compiles on both.
We moved our entire development over to GNUstep, and haven't looked back yet. We found the Foundation kit to be more stable than Apple's and easier to explore.
To purchase it is not like spending money but rather it is an investment in the future in a blow against the empire
Please, tell us what you really think. I devote time to GNUstep because it allows me to quickly write cool software that we need and distribute it on commodity hardware that runs an operating system that supports the cards and features we need. I make money doing this. How does this make me an idiot?
It is possible to work with GPLed software for the wrong, and wasteful reasons. But just choosing GNUstep over the competition doesn't make one an idiot.
This project will clearly never finish.
Probably so. Like most free software it will continue to live and improve each day. However they have met several important goals, and they stuff the code as it stands is useful TODAY.
GNUstep is in the same hopeless position as projects such as GNU Classpath, forever trying to catch up to an evolving standard.
At the time GNUstep started, OpenStep was supposed to become a certified standard. Since then Apple bought NeXT (who saw it coming?) and is trying to take their existing code base and justify the purchase. Whether they actually ship it is another question.
The libraries are LPGL, not GPL. There is nothing in the GPL that prevents commercial projects from using the source. There is nothing that requires them to distribute the source unless they distribute binaries. For MCCA users, there is no conflict
To purchase it is not like spending money but rather it is an investment in the future in a blow against the empire