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Is it based on some prior art (BSD, Linux...), or a new proprietary OS written from scratch? The post is not too rich in actual information, beside that now oth

Is it based on some prior art (BSD, Linux...), or a new proprietary OS written from scratch? The post is not too rich in actual information, beside that now other tech-giants can use it too...

seydor 3y ago
Isn't it based on android?
reactordev 3y ago
A flavor of android
- flohofwoe 3y ago
  Ooof that's a bummer, I hope that doesn't translate to the typical "Android developer experience".
  - kernal 3y ago
    Would you rather have the typical "iOS developer experience" and XCode? Or are you under the impression that Android development hasn't progressed? Additionally, there is also Flutter which is starting to account for a good percentage of new apps.
    - flohofwoe 3y ago
      Yes I would indeed take the iOS developer experience and Xcode anytime over the mess that is the Android SDK, Android NDK, Gradle (or whatever the current build system flavour of the month is), Android Studio, Java, Kotlin, ... and I bet for VR/AR one needs to fall back to native code to get any sort of performance, and the Android NDK is by far the most user hostile SDK I have seen across all platforms since I started with computing in the mid-80s (followed closely by the Android SDK and Android Studio) and all of that only improves at a glacial pace, if at all.
kingforaday 3y ago
"This long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people." Hopefully they stick to a proper license model with AOSP as a cornerstone.
- not_your_vase 3y ago
  Ahh, indeed, thanks all. Apparently I managed to glance over it.
asveikau 3y ago
I can't recall when I first heard the name "OS" used to mean just another linux distro, whereas my increasingly old-man brain expects the term OS to mean a unique kernel, not a repackaging of a different one. Certainly by the 2010s that usage was common. I feel like these days some would even call something an "OS" if it's running in a docker container, without providing any kernel at all. Which is to say the meaning of the term is expanding.
- amarcheschi 3y ago
  I do like the fact that you just accepted the evolution of the term rather than having a rant about how it changed and eventually being accused in the replies of gatekeeping the term os
- dmayle 3y ago
  From personal experience as far back as the 80's (and from my understanding going back before that as well), OS has never meant kernel. An Operating System is the collection of software that allows you to operate a computer, so that means kernel, program loader, simple text editor, simple disk management, etc. As computer users became more savvy, and hardware became more powerful, more and more functionality was included in the OS (graphical interfaces, utility apps, etc.). I don't think many people would have trouble calling Android an operating system, and that's just the Linux kernel with utility apps, loader, and app libraries, yet very different from something like Redhat. I don't think it's a stretch in the least to call Horizon an OS.
  - asveikau 3y ago
    > From personal experience as far back as the 80's (and from my understanding going back before that as well), OS has never meant kernel. I definitely heard it used to literally mean only the kernel. Circa 20 years ago and earlier. For example, if we look at "Operating system" on Wikipedia from 2006: > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&oldid=33435385 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&... > Most current usage of the term "operating system" today, by both popular and professional sources, refers to all the software that is required in order for the user to manage the system and to run third-party application software for that system. Note it says "most current usage". That is because the usage was changing at that time, or had only recently changed. (I picked 2006 because I remember it changing around then.) If we go back another 2 years: > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&oldid=9070742 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&... > In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations ... Sure sounds like that doesn't include userland. Definitions which include userland are marked as "colloquial". Famously in the 1990s, Microsoft tried to argue in court that an OS included a web browser, and that discussion is cited in these old articles... Many reasonable people at the time thought that position was bullshit.
steventhedev 3y ago
> This long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people. Which gives some context to the calls for Google to bring the play store content library to Horizon.

Is it based on some prior art (BSD, Linux...), or a new proprietary OS written from scratch? The post is not too rich in actual information, beside that now other tech-giants can use it too...

seydor 3y ago

Isn't it based on android?

reactordev 3y ago

A flavor of android

flohofwoe 3y ago
Ooof that's a bummer, I hope that doesn't translate to the typical "Android developer experience".
- kernal 3y ago
  Would you rather have the typical "iOS developer experience" and XCode? Or are you under the impression that Android development hasn't progressed? Additionally, there is also Flutter which is starting to account for a good percentage of new apps.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    Yes I would indeed take the iOS developer experience and Xcode anytime over the mess that is the Android SDK, Android NDK, Gradle (or whatever the current build system flavour of the month is), Android Studio, Java, Kotlin, ... and I bet for VR/AR one needs to fall back to native code to get any sort of performance, and the Android NDK is by far the most user hostile SDK I have seen across all platforms since I started with computing in the mid-80s (followed closely by the Android SDK and Android Studio) and all of that only improves at a glacial pace, if at all.

kingforaday 3y ago

"This long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people." Hopefully they stick to a proper license model with AOSP as a cornerstone.

not_your_vase 3y ago
Ahh, indeed, thanks all. Apparently I managed to glance over it.

asveikau 3y ago

I can't recall when I first heard the name "OS" used to mean just another linux distro, whereas my increasingly old-man brain expects the term OS to mean a unique kernel, not a repackaging of a different one. Certainly by the 2010s that usage was common. I feel like these days some would even call something an "OS" if it's running in a docker container, without providing any kernel at all. Which is to say the meaning of the term is expanding.

amarcheschi 3y ago
I do like the fact that you just accepted the evolution of the term rather than having a rant about how it changed and eventually being accused in the replies of gatekeeping the term os
dmayle 3y ago
From personal experience as far back as the 80's (and from my understanding going back before that as well), OS has never meant kernel. An Operating System is the collection of software that allows you to operate a computer, so that means kernel, program loader, simple text editor, simple disk management, etc. As computer users became more savvy, and hardware became more powerful, more and more functionality was included in the OS (graphical interfaces, utility apps, etc.). I don't think many people would have trouble calling Android an operating system, and that's just the Linux kernel with utility apps, loader, and app libraries, yet very different from something like Redhat. I don't think it's a stretch in the least to call Horizon an OS.
- asveikau 3y ago
  > From personal experience as far back as the 80's (and from my understanding going back before that as well), OS has never meant kernel. I definitely heard it used to literally mean only the kernel. Circa 20 years ago and earlier. For example, if we look at "Operating system" on Wikipedia from 2006: > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&oldid=33435385 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&... > Most current usage of the term "operating system" today, by both popular and professional sources, refers to all the software that is required in order for the user to manage the system and to run third-party application software for that system. Note it says "most current usage". That is because the usage was changing at that time, or had only recently changed. (I picked 2006 because I remember it changing around then.) If we go back another 2 years: > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&oldid=9070742 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&... > In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations ... Sure sounds like that doesn't include userland. Definitions which include userland are marked as "colloquial". Famously in the 1990s, Microsoft tried to argue in court that an OS included a web browser, and that discussion is cited in these old articles... Many reasonable people at the time thought that position was bullshit.

steventhedev 3y ago

> This long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people. Which gives some context to the calls for Google to bring the play store content library to Horizon.