Be, Inc. to go public?

Jump Suit Jesse writes "It's been a long time in the making, but Be, Inc. may finally be going public. It should be interesting to see how this IPO fares before the alleged Red Hat IPO. Perhaps this cash infusion will be used for a nice propaganda campaign. "

Comments

'World domination' - don't hold your breath

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole OSS idea is really an outlier, even though it's not a bad idea. I simply can't imagine why so many otherwise intelligent people believe that proprietary software is going to be swept away. Criticizing BeOS because it isn't OSS is ludicrous. The issue should be whether it is a good product for a reasonable price.

I mean really, folks, why are computer operating systems intrinsically different from every other product known to man? (I'm familiar with all the RMS/ESR/GNU etc. arguments, I just think they're quite a stretch). Where are the open source automobiles that come with enough engineering info to build a duplicate or even improved car if needed? What about open source restaurants that have complete recipes available on request? Do you feel "enslaved" because these products are "closed source" or "commercial"?

The paradigm shift required to allow OSS to displace proprietary operating systems would be a hell of a lot bigger than the entire field of computing put together, because the U.S. and international economy revolve completely around proprietary products, and around _money_.

I think BeOS will have a hard time growing beyond a niche market because of Microsoft's anticompetitive practices, but the product itself could easily win over a lot of users (both novices and advanced) because it's so easy and elegant AND because it is a commercial product. Commercial products are what virtually everyone is used to(outside of /., that is).

Will OSS continue to develop and flourish? Absolutely! But so will proprietary software, and I find it simply mind-boggling that anyone considers the whole "world domination" thing to be anything other than a standing joke.

Objections

[Chexum]

Well, I haven't seen BeOS, my bad. But I'm not the kind of guy who likes to play with OS'es, I even hasn't all the time I need to tweak with Linux :)

But, BeOS still might be an excellent, comfortable, inexpensive, great commercial OS. That's OK. But it's still proprietary. Why do one needs to be enslaved to another company?

I didn't think I'm freedom-addicted to GPL, but I start to think if anything's going to be a big success for a long time, it won't be "another one", be it just another audio codec, another TV format, another commercial OS.

I want a paradigm shift. Like, the internet; like Linux. Like, throwing out the marketing business and have no ads. (Use the search engines.)

The world is really changing, and you can't build the unknown future on todays' commercially available material.

(I really fail to see how any commercial OS'es could take new followers if not based on a really different idea: freedom). Nevertheless, BeOS might be a big success -- for a while --, but then *we* will come :)

Public Be

[bjb]

While I'd like to see this company go public, I don't know if it is going to draw much attention to the operating system. I mean that in the way that it is going to ride the initial hype wave of "Look! It's another dot-com!" and the price will jump. Most people on Wall St. don't know much about technology, and the analysts probably are going to just look at what their e-commerce potential is. I don't see the BeOS as much of an internet strategy, and that is what the street craves currently. Yes, BeOS is quite a good technology, but consider this: What is better, the 3Dfx Voodoo chipset or the TNT? 3Dfx is the one in the market's favor right now, despite the fact that the TNT actually shows more promise right now.

The street is going to jump on it initially, because everyone is looking for that technology stock that is going to make them rich. However, once they realize that it is an operating system company competing with Microsoft and that the market share is relatively low, the price will drop back down. If you want to short, this probably is a good one to do ;-)

Great. Another OS for stockholders.

[mcramer]

There are two sides to going public. You get a large amount of cash, true, but you also become a slave to stockholders. Jean-Louis Gassee may have great plans for his technology, but stockholders tend to have great plans only for their investments.

Re:BeOS IPO

[mountain]

You're a bit ahead of yourself.. You just can't 'wait to read all of the comments. "BeOS sucks." "BeOS is a crappy OS."'.

People may slag it, yes. But I'm sure they have their reasons for it (narrow mindedness comes to mind).

There are people out here in the rworld willing to give anything a go. Hell I for one am planning my next computer purchase on the hardware supported by OS's like BeOS. And from what I've seen on their web page. It looks very nice.

The next computer I buy I plan on installing 7 OS's onto. (BeOS, DOS/Win98, WinNT, FreeBSD, SuSe, Debian, OS/2 for starters).

The only thing I have against BeOS is that they're sold out of R3... (Hey I'm a student I need the cheap option)

Re:BeOS IPO

[Shadowlion]

Those comments have, in the past, been leveled at Linux users as well. How many times in the past couple of years have you heard somebody in the media gurgling FUD about, "It's just not immediately obvious what advantages Linux - and the open source model in general - provide"?

I will not gush about eight movies playing on the desktop. I will not make claims that BeOS is a better server than Linux. I will not tell you it is flaw-free, runs faster and more stable than Linux, and has a special demo app that will cure cancer, stop war, and clean your bedroom.

On the other hand, for the things that BeOS has, and especially for the things that BeOS has that no other operating system has, I will stand up for. Playing eight movies may not be a great example, but it's an example of something that is difficult to do on other operating systems (to a much larger extent, eight movies is more of a "wow" to Windows users than Linux users).

As for the strengths of another proprietary OS - those lie in what that OS has that other OSes do not. There are some technical features of BeOS that Linux doesn't have, nor can't have unless parts of Linux are rewritten drastically (for example, pervasive multithreading). Not only is the kernel able to take advantage of multiple processors, so is the file system, the input system, and even applications not specifically written for multithreading (details of this aspect can be found on Be's web pages). As a result, BeOS is more efficient - holistically - than Linux is at taking advantage of SMP.

Is BeOS designed to replace Linux? No. Are there lots of things that Linux can do that BeOS can't? You bet. Can you do everything you want on Linux and ignore BeOS? Probably. Does that mean Linux is the best solution for every user, every application, and every lifestyle? No.

When I used Linux, after using BeOS, I found Linux to be more intrusive. More powerful, yes. I could almost feel the OS humming beneath my fingers as I typed on the command line. But for the same reasons I bought a car with an automatic transmission and not a stick, I want an automatic OS and not a manual one. Linux is too manual for me, and while I might've appreciated that a few years ago, my lifestyle has changed to where I don't have the time or energy to argue with my computer anymore. BeOS fits *my* needs better than Linux does - and that makes BeOS have a major strength as compared to Linux. Linux is not for every user. Windows is not for every user. BeOS is not for every user.

But BeOS *IS* for *this* user.

BeOS IPO

[Shadowlion]

I can hardly wait to read all of the comments. "BeOS sucks." "BeOS is a crappy OS." "BeOS has no apps." "BeOS isn't open source."

I wonder how many of the people who feel qualified to comment on Be and/or BeOS have actually used the operating system for any length of time and tried to be objective about it. From some of the content-free bashing on Slashdot, it seems that the extent of some opinions are formed from either somebody else's comments or from finding a screenshot off the web.

It may not be up to the same level of usability that Linux is, and it may not have the same level of developer support, it may not be open source, and _God_forbid_ that it have one built-in GUI with no themes support - but don't fall into the Stallman/Raymond-esque viewpoint of "all closed-source software sucks simply because it's closed-source software".

For all of the shouting the Linux community does about "judging Linux on its merits, not on the FUD Microsoft spreads," I find it very ironic that the Linux community turns around and performs the same Microsoft-ish actions to others. Judge BeOS on its merits. If it has lacking driver and application support (as it does), point it out. If you think the closed-source nature of the software is a negative, point it out. But at least give BeOS credit for the things it does well.

I understand the desire to be proud of what Linux has accomplished, especially given the mutually exclusive natures of Linux and the commercial software market - but don't let pride lead to arrogance. Be proud of what you've accomplished, but don't shit on the little people because of it. Arrogance stems from insecurity (example: Microsoft). If you really believe how great Linux is, there's no need to bash the other guy. Let the merits of Linux speak for themselves.

BeOS may not be Linux, and it probably will never be Linux, but not everything *has* to be Linux.

Re:BeOS IPO

[JeTYyZ]

I can understand you're frustration sometimes, but I must differ when you say that Eric Raymond believes that all non OSS sucks.

Like yourself he probably gave it a try, and sees that the technology of it is simply amazing. The BeOS is built to do stuff that Linux is not, yet. I don't know if Linux will ever be able to do the Media stuff BeOS can do, or if the BeOS will have the following that Linux does. I can hope for both though.

For those that believe in OSS as a better way of doing things, they might see it as more of a shame that BeOS is not open-source because they would like to see it succeed, but don't see the future of closed source software.

Me, I would like Be to succeed, and I will be putting my money into it as soon as I am able. I don't believe all software needs to be open source, as long as the company is open to ideas. There is no company more open to its developers than Be at least not any I have ever worked with. That's enough for me to invest my money and my time.