
HelenOS 0.8 - return_0e
http://www.helenos.org/wiki/ReleaseNotes/0.8.0
======
jayalpha
Lot of new stuff coming up. Also see:

[https://harvey-os.org/](https://harvey-os.org/)

[https://www.redox-os.org/](https://www.redox-os.org/)

~~~
synchronise
Just had a look over Harvey OS, looks like a pretty neat direction to take
Plan 9.

But it got me wondering, is there any shared collaberation between any of the
next-gen 'Plan 9-like' OS's like 9atom, 9front and Harvey OS?

Also, it looks as though Harvey OS is only using Slack for its discussion
forum, which is a bit odd for an open source project.

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aeneasmackenzie
9front views HarveyOS with scorn and I don't think 9atom is developed.

~~~
em-bee
why is that? got any references?

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aeneasmackenzie
HarveyOS is "plan 9 with gcc" but 9front doesn't like gnu stuff. See cat-v,
suckless, and their IRC channel.

~~~
em-bee
ah, yes, i can see the problem.

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jacques_chester
For those who, like me, wondered "what's HelenOS?" and got little idea from
release notes:
[http://www.helenos.org/wiki/About](http://www.helenos.org/wiki/About)

~~~
warent
Tiny nitpick but the screenshot showing an application window rotated ~45
degrees is a little terrifying. Why would that be allowed?

~~~
reaperducer
You assume that everyone has their monitors the way you do.

At work, I have two large 16:9 monitors rotated in portrait orientation
(tall), so this would be useful to me.

Currently macOS only allows 90-degree rotation increments. This allows you to
have your monitor in portrait orientation, or mounted from the ceiling or a
shelf, hanging upside down so there's nothing taking up space on the desk in
front of you.

I've been in a couple of events in the field where having arbitrary
application window rotation would have been nice because there was no place
flat to put the monitors.

~~~
nolok
> Currently macOS only allows 90-degree rotation increments.

Windows has supported landscape/portrait switching since forever, I think it
was already there in windows XP almost two decades ago, if not it was in 7 for
sure (and it's in 10 since I use it right now).

~~~
reaperducer
_Windows has supported landscape /portrait switching since forever, I think it
was already there in windows XP almost two decades ago, if not it was in 7 for
sure (and it's in 10 since I use it right now)._

I wasn't trying to make a comparison to Windows, or start an OS war. I'm not
sure why you even brought up Windows, since this discussion is about HelenOS.

But for what it's worth, Macs have supported portrait mode since 1989†, back
when Microsoft was still pushing Windows 2.

†
[https://everymac.com/monitors/apple/classic_monitors/specs/a...](https://everymac.com/monitors/apple/classic_monitors/specs/apple_mac_portrait.html)

~~~
nolok
My bad, for some reason I read "only macOS" instead of "macOS only"

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ianai
I like the concept. It sounds like a modern take on some of the plan9 ideas.
Decoupling of system components into components that work together through a
message passing framework.

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jpm_sd
Sounds a bit like QNX actually

~~~
xyproto
Is QNX used anywhere? Sounds interesting.

~~~
nopetrain
Lots of infotainment in cars use QNX, along with aviation.

~~~
jpm_sd
Also medical devices

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karmakaze
Is there a 'distrowatch' for OSes other than Linux/BSD-based? I can't keep up
with them all anymore.

~~~
protomyth
osnews.com was once pretty good, but I haven't read it in a while and they did
have some recent problems.

~~~
SyneRyder
Yikes, it does seem like OSnews have had a rocky few days. (TLDR: _" It
certainly seems like we’ve had a breach."_)

[https://www.osnews.com/story/128924/what-happened-
here/](https://www.osnews.com/story/128924/what-happened-here/)

To their credit, it looks like they're now trying to find ways to run the site
profitably, so they can pay people to maintain the site part/full-time instead
of relying on volunteer help.

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dang
From 2017:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15046249](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15046249)

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rcarmo
Interesting. Anyone got this running on a Raspberry Pi?

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born2discover
How is it different from [Minix3][1]? It seems to accomplish the exactly same
goal.

[1]([https://www.minix3.org/](https://www.minix3.org/))

~~~
adamnemecek
You mean because they are both microkernels? In that sense windows and Linux
accomplish the same goal as well.

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flag_bcz_mad
What kinds of tasks are slower on a micro-kernel? Are there use-cases where a
micro-kernel is just as fast as a monolithic?

~~~
Tuna-Fish
> What kinds of tasks are slower on a micro-kernel?

Crossing from usermode to kernel is slower, and generally doing complex things
in kernel is much slower. (Where complex means cross-cutting concerns, so
multiple different kernel processes need to be involved.)

> Are there use-cases where a micro-kernel is just as fast as a monolithic?

Anything that doesn't really involve the kernel much at all, and things that
take a lot of time in kernel but do so in one part of it with no need for
input from other parts.

Generally, when you go for a microkernel you need to accept that it will be
slower than monolithic. It might still be worth it for the advantages of
microkernels, namely being easier to verify, understand and secure.

