Syllable - The Little OS with a Big Future?

Vanders writes "Tired of endless Windows security problems? Intrigued by Linux's power but discouraged by its complexity? Tempted by Mac OS but not thrilled with the hardware cost? In an OSNews article, Michael Saunders takes a look at Syllable, the OS that picked up where AtheOS left off over two years ago. Michael takes you through Syllable and shows you what we have been doing these past few years."

Comments

Sure

[Anonymous Coward]

If it can solve the problems Linux has on the desktop, namely incredibly poor software installation and ugly graphics, it might have a chance. It seems promising, but then again, so does Linux. I've been wishing Linux on to the desktop, but it just doesn't seem like it's happening.

Question: Is there any way to use Linux device drivers with this os? How hard would it be to "port" Syllable to Linux?

Re:Sure

[Hatta]

Furthermore, it shouldn't be necessary to use a CLI, ever.

I agree. I would further propose that it shouldn't be necessary to use a GUI, ever.

Re:Sure

[moonbender]

Anyone can install a tarball and with great scripts like CompileProgram anyone can install it with one command.

No. You can do that, and I can probably figure it out easily enough, but no, most people can not install a program from source. Although I'm sure they could be enabled to do it - portage is a start, an easy to use graphical portage would be even more of a start.

Re:Sure

[be-fan]

When Adobe ports Photoshop to Linux how are they going to distribute it to anyone that wants to download it from their site?
Set up an APT repository for it :) If there isn't already one, it would be pretty easy to create a program that would open "repository files" and automatically add them to your sources.list.

There is no simple, standard way to distribute an application for each version of Linux that will install. Windows DOES IT. Linux DOES NOT.
Linux isn't an OS. Debian is an OS. There is a simple, standard way to distribute an application for Debian, just as in Windows.

Furthermore, it shouldn't be necessary to use a CLI, ever.
It's really not necessary to use the CLI to do package installation. It's just easier to describe on the web. A GUI like Synaptic let's you do everything from finding packages to installing them, all from one interface. Much easier than doing the same thing under Windows.

i remember AtheOS...

[torpor]

... sorta sniffed at it when my aging BeBox arrived at its final unsupported destination, but ... I don't remember if this project had architecture-neutrality as a spec ... and i retired the BeBox and bought a powerbook instead, abandoning x86 forever (or at least as much as possible)...

still, a powerpc port of another new and interesting OS would be an interesting endeavour. anyone care to answer the question as to how portable syllable is?

MacOS Comparison

[eeg3]

"Tempted by Mac OS but not thrilled with the hardware cost?"

Ugh, having the start menu at the top isn't really making it like MacOS, and it sure seems that's the only similar thing. It doesn't even integrate the application menus into the title bar. Another great part of MacOS is the fact it "just works." I doubt you get this with Syllable. Furthermore, the MacOS UI is a lot nicer.

Moreover, I doubt this OS will really take off with a "big future." BeOS/QNX/etc were a lot spiffier, and they didn't survive. I wish them the best of luck, however.

One of the pros was low memory use?

[LWATCDR]

How is 64 Megs low memory usage?
Seems like a pretty good chunk of memory if you ask me for a less than complete OS.