4 ms·

Then you'd maybe get something like iOS, where the POSIX uid practically does not matter at all, and the strong security and separation is provided by other mec

by anyfoo 7y ago

Then you'd maybe get something like iOS, where the POSIX uid practically does not matter at all, and the strong security and separation is provided by other mechanisms like entitlements... Someone else pointed out that BeOS allegedly had "quality and security" problems in general (I myself have no idea), so that may indeed have led to problems down the line, whereas BSD was pretty solid. But I agree with the OP and don't think POSIX security in particular is much of a factor today.

_8ljf 7y ago
Yeah. Funny enough, if Apple had skipped OS X and gone directly to iOS, BeOS would have been a superior foundation. No uselessly mismatched security model or crusty legacy API baggage to clog up the new revolution in single-user always-online low-powered mobile devices. Of course, that was in back in the days when an entire platform from hardware to userland could be exclusively optimized to utterly and comprehensively smash it in just one very specific and precisely targeted market. Which is, of course, exactly what the iPhone was. Just as the first Apple Macintosh a decade earlier eschewed not only multi-user, multi-process, and even a kernel; every single bit and cycle its being being exclusive dedicated to delivering a revolutionary consumer UI experience instead! In comparison, NeXTSTEP, which ultimately became iOS, is just one great huge glorious bodge. “Worse is Better” indeed! .. Honesly, poor Be was just really unlucky in timing: a few years too late to usurp SGI; a few too early to take the vast online rich-content-streaming world all for its own. Just imagine… a BeOS-based smartphone hitting the global market in 2000, complete with live streaming AV media and conferencing from launch! And Oh!, how every Mac OS and Windows neckbeards would’ve screamed at that!:)

4 ms·

Then you'd maybe get something like iOS, where the POSIX uid practically does not matter at all, and the strong security and separation is provided by other mec

by anyfoo 7y ago

_8ljf 7y ago
Yeah. Funny enough, if Apple had skipped OS X and gone directly to iOS, BeOS would have been a superior foundation. No uselessly mismatched security model or crusty legacy API baggage to clog up the new revolution in single-user always-online low-powered mobile devices. Of course, that was in back in the days when an entire platform from hardware to userland could be exclusively optimized to utterly and comprehensively smash it in just one very specific and precisely targeted market. Which is, of course, exactly what the iPhone was. Just as the first Apple Macintosh a decade earlier eschewed not only multi-user, multi-process, and even a kernel; every single bit and cycle its being being exclusive dedicated to delivering a revolutionary consumer UI experience instead! In comparison, NeXTSTEP, which ultimately became iOS, is just one great huge glorious bodge. “Worse is Better” indeed! .. Honesly, poor Be was just really unlucky in timing: a few years too late to usurp SGI; a few too early to take the vast online rich-content-streaming world all for its own. Just imagine… a BeOS-based smartphone hitting the global market in 2000, complete with live streaming AV media and conferencing from launch! And Oh!, how every Mac OS and Windows neckbeards would’ve screamed at that!:)