4 ms·

The BeOS Bible (1999)

59 points by surprisetalk 3y ago

bsdooby 3y ago
...and then there is HaikuOS with the new Falcon browser.
surprisetalk 3y ago
Thanks to Matt Sephton for archiving this gem! [1] https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2020/11/11/the-beos-bible/ https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2020/11/11/the-beos-bible/
brudgers 3y ago
Direct link to PDF, https://ia801707.us.archive.org/5/items/the-beos-bible/BeOS%20Bible%20-%20Book.pdf https://ia801707.us.archive.org/5/items/the-beos-bible/BeOS%... Because we hates the page flipping reader.
tchbnl 3y ago
Ah man the nostalgia. I still read through mine sometimes.
amelius 3y ago
By "Scot Hacker" :)
- mbrubeck 3y ago
  That’s his real/legal name, believe it or not. In fact, Scot is (or was) against the use of fake names online: https://blog.birdhouse.org/2006/02/14/on-anonymity/ https://blog.birdhouse.org/2006/02/14/on-anonymity/
- Lammy 3y ago
  Relevant: “Antique BeOS Content by Scot Hacker (1996–2001)” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32708579 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32708579 https://birdhouse.org/beos/byte/ https://birdhouse.org/beos/byte/
thinker5555 3y ago
I have one of these sitting on my shelf! I still get it down and flip through it every so often. I used BeOS around 2002 and 2003, and it was so cool. One of my favorite things was when I figured out how to use file system metadata to essentially turn files and folders into a database. Having emails essentially be plain text files, but with all the OS searchable metadata of subject, from, time sent, etc. that could be viewable in a Tracker window was awesome. And at the time, it was one of the few systems I could get to work with my dual processor system. Unfortunately at that time I was struggling with things that I needed to use via Windows that I couldn't do in BeOS. Even though I didn't use it a ton, I love it and I always wished it had taken off better. Every so often I load up Haiku for that hit of nostalgia, but it feels like a lot of modern software is missing from it. Even just being able to run a modern Firefox on it would be enough to keep it on my home computer for most things.
- sillywalk 3y ago
  > Having emails essentially be plain text files I think that's how BeMail worked. Contact files were "empty", but had the contact info in the extended attributes, and how Text Edit(?) had Rich Text in the extended attributes.
- silisili 3y ago
  More useful than my uses. I just sat in awe it could play audio from two sources at a time, with independent volumes and all, which was unheard of at the time.
RajT88 3y ago
I dual booted BeOS back in college. I know, that period where you "experiment". It was pretty good as a daily driver, and I even purchased a few games for it. Some Korean company took a risk and made a couple, the one I played the most being a top-down hack 'n slash RPG, which was OK. I cannot remember the names, but I can tell you they are not on this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:BeOS_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:BeOS_games Ah ha! The RPG was Corum 3: https://www.mobygames.com/platform/beos/ https://www.mobygames.com/platform/beos/
peatmoss 3y ago
I know, and agree with, many of the assessments about how BeOS had major technological deficiencies as compared to other systems. In every thread talking about the Apple that could have been, you'll find these. But what BeOS had going for it was that it was genuinely fun. It surprised just about everyone who played with it with everything it could do. It defied what computing enthusiasts of the time believed a computer could do. Somehow even the wacky typography and layout of The BeOS Bible scream "it's 1999 and the future is bright!" Thanks for the nostalgic trip.
seltzered_ 3y ago
Scot Hacker is still around... https://zirk.us/@shacker https://zirk.us/@shacker
bsdooby 3y ago
Still have that book ;)
JohnDeHope 3y ago
The original black and white screenshots in the book do not do justice to how jaw droppingly beautiful BeOS was at the time. It was like a work of art. Hanselman had a project where he crowd sourced people re-writing an old basic games book into modern python or somesuch. I wish there was a way to re-take all these old screenshot of a VM running the original BeOS from back then. That's the part of BeOS that I really have nostalgia for. The technical underpinnings were great, no doubt. The source code was almost as beautiful, and I don't even write C. But the GUI...

59 points by surprisetalk 3y ago

...and then there is HaikuOS with the new Falcon browser.

Thanks to Matt Sephton for archiving this gem! [1] https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2020/11/11/the-beos-bible/ https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2020/11/11/the-beos-bible/

brudgers 3y ago

Direct link to PDF, https://ia801707.us.archive.org/5/items/the-beos-bible/BeOS%20Bible%20-%20Book.pdf https://ia801707.us.archive.org/5/items/the-beos-bible/BeOS%... Because we hates the page flipping reader.

tchbnl 3y ago

Ah man the nostalgia. I still read through mine sometimes.

amelius 3y ago

By "Scot Hacker" :)

mbrubeck 3y ago
That’s his real/legal name, believe it or not. In fact, Scot is (or was) against the use of fake names online: https://blog.birdhouse.org/2006/02/14/on-anonymity/ https://blog.birdhouse.org/2006/02/14/on-anonymity/
Lammy 3y ago
Relevant: “Antique BeOS Content by Scot Hacker (1996–2001)” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32708579 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32708579 https://birdhouse.org/beos/byte/ https://birdhouse.org/beos/byte/

thinker5555 3y ago

I have one of these sitting on my shelf! I still get it down and flip through it every so often. I used BeOS around 2002 and 2003, and it was so cool. One of my favorite things was when I figured out how to use file system metadata to essentially turn files and folders into a database. Having emails essentially be plain text files, but with all the OS searchable metadata of subject, from, time sent, etc. that could be viewable in a Tracker window was awesome. And at the time, it was one of the few systems I could get to work with my dual processor system. Unfortunately at that time I was struggling with things that I needed to use via Windows that I couldn't do in BeOS. Even though I didn't use it a ton, I love it and I always wished it had taken off better. Every so often I load up Haiku for that hit of nostalgia, but it feels like a lot of modern software is missing from it. Even just being able to run a modern Firefox on it would be enough to keep it on my home computer for most things.

sillywalk 3y ago
> Having emails essentially be plain text files I think that's how BeMail worked. Contact files were "empty", but had the contact info in the extended attributes, and how Text Edit(?) had Rich Text in the extended attributes.
silisili 3y ago
More useful than my uses. I just sat in awe it could play audio from two sources at a time, with independent volumes and all, which was unheard of at the time.

RajT88 3y ago

I dual booted BeOS back in college. I know, that period where you "experiment". It was pretty good as a daily driver, and I even purchased a few games for it. Some Korean company took a risk and made a couple, the one I played the most being a top-down hack 'n slash RPG, which was OK. I cannot remember the names, but I can tell you they are not on this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:BeOS_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:BeOS_games Ah ha! The RPG was Corum 3: https://www.mobygames.com/platform/beos/ https://www.mobygames.com/platform/beos/

peatmoss 3y ago

I know, and agree with, many of the assessments about how BeOS had major technological deficiencies as compared to other systems. In every thread talking about the Apple that could have been, you'll find these. But what BeOS had going for it was that it was genuinely fun. It surprised just about everyone who played with it with everything it could do. It defied what computing enthusiasts of the time believed a computer could do. Somehow even the wacky typography and layout of The BeOS Bible scream "it's 1999 and the future is bright!" Thanks for the nostalgic trip.

seltzered_ 3y ago

Scot Hacker is still around... https://zirk.us/@shacker https://zirk.us/@shacker

bsdooby 3y ago

Still have that book ;)

JohnDeHope 3y ago

The original black and white screenshots in the book do not do justice to how jaw droppingly beautiful BeOS was at the time. It was like a work of art. Hanselman had a project where he crowd sourced people re-writing an old basic games book into modern python or somesuch. I wish there was a way to re-take all these old screenshot of a VM running the original BeOS from back then. That's the part of BeOS that I really have nostalgia for. The technical underpinnings were great, no doubt. The source code was almost as beautiful, and I don't even write C. But the GUI...