Yeah, the Be API really is good. Since they wrote everything from the ground up they don't have to worry about backwards compatibility like other APIs. Also, it's not built on top of anything else, so you don't have to find references for the underlying libraries in order to extend something. Additionally, the C++ mechanisms are very nice and well thought-out. I'm not particularly fond of C++, usually because I feel like I'm adding another layer between myself and the real API, but with Be the core API interface _is_ C++. I really hope things work out for Be, but usually the coolest interfaces (programmer or end user) end up dying (read NeXT, OS/2, etc).
I think the passing of the "figureheads" would be a good thing. Maybe with the passing of media attention, the open source community could get back to programming functional tools for the fun of it and not worry about creating something pretty to attract windows/mac users and impress the press.
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Yeah, the Be API really is good. Since they wrote everything from the ground up they don't have to worry about backwards compatibility like other APIs. Also, it's not built on top of anything else, so you don't have to find references for the underlying libraries in order to extend something.
Additionally, the C++ mechanisms are very nice and well thought-out. I'm not particularly fond of C++, usually because I feel like I'm adding another layer between myself and the real API, but with Be the core API interface _is_ C++. I really hope things work out for Be, but usually the coolest interfaces (programmer or end user) end up dying (read NeXT, OS/2, etc).
I think the passing of the "figureheads" would be a good thing. Maybe with the passing of media attention, the open source community could get back to programming functional tools for the fun of it and not worry about creating something pretty to attract windows/mac users and impress the press.