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Zeta Goes Gold

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the obscurantism dept.

*no comment* writes "Be lives! yellowTAB has announced it's 1.0 release of Zeta has gone Gold and has sent it off to production. The word is that in about 2 weeks, you can have your hands on the latest version of this BeOS derivative."

2 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. I don't get it! Who's going to buy it? by H0p313ss · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Who is going to spend time and money on this thing?
    • It's almost as expensive as XP Home edition and half a dozen different Linux distros can be had for free.
    • Who's going to pay 99 Euros for a squeaky new OS?
    • Are there even any applications for it?

    Free I could understand, we hobbiests are crazy, but 99 Euros? WTF?

    --
    XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
  2. Re:Do they or do they not have the source legally? by croddy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It doesn't matter whether you personally have the desire or ability to patch the source. What matters is that someone does -- be it you, your neighbors, or others -- and that we all benefit from those patches. That's why open source projects have bug-report and feature-request systems -- so that users who aren't in a position to provide the changes they need can request them of others.

    Yes, it would be nice to have access to the BIOS source and motherboard schematics -- just like it is nice to have access to the kernel source and to application sources. The more of these things are opened, the more freedom users will enjoy.

    It is not zealotry to expect source code for an OS. Even Microsoft recognizes that universities can't study Windows to any non-trivial extent without allowing schools access through their Shared Source program.

    In an OS, freedom means the ability of the user base to take action when security problems appear, to provide drivers for new hardware, and to control the configuration of the system. To be suddenly cut off from security updates on an old system, and face migration, upgrade, or compromise is not freedom. Dependence on a vendor and a proprietary OS may -- and quite often, does -- mean convenience and ease of use; it does not mean freedom.