if instant-on is so cool

Story: MontaVista Linux drives Dell's quick-boot featureTotal Replies: 19
Author Content
tuxchick

Oct 06, 2008
4:59 PM EDT
Why not make it for real, instead of instantly booting a little mini-me OS? Just boot to your real OS and be done with it.
theboomboomcars

Oct 06, 2008
5:04 PM EDT
It seems that rather than building a mini computer into a laptop for instant on, why not just replace the BIOS with something like coreboot?
techiem2

Oct 06, 2008
5:05 PM EDT
Cuz then M$ wouldn't get paid.
techiem2

Oct 06, 2008
5:05 PM EDT
boom: I thought that too.
Bob_Robertson

Oct 06, 2008
5:07 PM EDT
Like, write a "this is working" base system into flash, and just load that at boot?

Interesting idea, and something I've been wondering about. It shouldn't be any harder than building an initrd.img file every time there's a new kernel.

It certainly could be done by the system's package manger, but first there would have to be a standardization of such a macro (as opposed to mini) flash memory structure.

Otherwise, just use suspend to disk.
Steven_Rosenber

Oct 06, 2008
6:28 PM EDT
I can see a netbook working just this way -- booting from a flash BIOS, having some flash storage on board, and that being it ...
tuxchick

Oct 06, 2008
6:35 PM EDT
Mmmm, little tiny chips embedded in our heads. I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to my embedded computer! The foil hat keeps interference out! No really!
jacog

Oct 07, 2008
4:53 AM EDT
You guys really should give AmigaOS a try at some point. Boots up in a few seconds. For some configurations it boots up in under 5. And this is from the hard drive, not even flash of any sort. And it sure as heck is a proper OS.

Yes, 15 years later and I still mourn its demise as a popular computing platform.
theboomboomcars

Oct 07, 2008
9:17 AM EDT
The main problem with AmigaOS is that is runs on a very limited hardware selection, which is very hard to find and extremely expensive for what you get.

I have heard they are thinking about releasing a port for the PS3, that would be pretty cool.
jacog

Oct 07, 2008
9:59 AM EDT
Very limited. In fact, way back when the hardware was still cutting edge along with the OS, a popular argument used to be whether the USP was the hardware or the software. A lot of users put too much faith in the uberness of their hardware, which did not change much over the years, and therefore the cutting edge dulled somewhat.

Now, running it on popular hardware like the PS3... there's a thought.

But anyway, I digress.
Bob_Robertson

Oct 07, 2008
11:14 AM EDT
So how about an AmigaOS-look/work alike WM for Xwindows?
theboomboomcars

Oct 07, 2008
5:12 PM EDT
There are some Free AmigaOS clones out there, though I haven't tried any, I have lost all of my Amiga software disks, so I haven't really had the urge. But without the Amiga hardware, some of the cool features of AmigaOS are lost.

Though having a desktop that emulated AmigaOS would be pretty cool, It would be fun, since I learned how to use a computer with the Amiga and Windows and Mac have always felt hollow because of it, which is why I looked into Linux. To get the power of Linux with the feel of Amiga, that is Happifing, I must commence a search.
jacog

Oct 08, 2008
3:54 AM EDT
I fear "off-topic" can't begin to describe where this is now, but anyway...

So, what was it about that interface that made it feel so comfortable? I know the feeling you are talking about and have a good about of positive nostalgia associated with it. But I can't really discern what made it to unique.

Was it the screens thing,

the RAM disk you could access,

the fact that everything happened really fast - moreso than any modern-day systems?

You know, bugger-it... I am going to buy me a copy of the new just-released OS to run on an emulator and play with it... (er, soon as I fix my finances) :)

And this was a really nice roundup of alternative OSms (which I thought I found on LXer, but maybe not): http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/09/26/10-amazingly-alternative...

theboomboomcars

Oct 08, 2008
9:32 AM EDT
jacog, I can't put my finger on it either. I am sure the cool ram disk is part of it, the speed, I could just be the fact that every day I used it I could say this is just cool, that I never could until I found linux.

It is kind of like finding a shoe company that makes shoes that fit perfectly, but when you go to get another pair they have gone out of business, and every other pair of shoes you buy no matter how well they fit they just never seem to have the same fit and leave you still in your search.

I think that is why I am always trying out new desktops, I am still looking for that perfect fit. Which with open software, is something I can do.
gus3

Oct 08, 2008
1:18 PM EDT
Wasn't the Amiga also faster, not just perceptibly, but even in the well-designed instruction set of its Motorola 68K processor?
Steven_Rosenber

Oct 08, 2008
1:28 PM EDT
I'd suggest Haiku:

http://www.haiku-os.org

It looked pretty good at last year's SCALE show, but I wonder how long it will take to get to a release.
rijelkentaurus

Oct 08, 2008
3:04 PM EDT
Quoting: I'd suggest Haiku:


the OS for you cannot be found in this land the penguin will come
Scott_Ruecker

Oct 08, 2008
7:02 PM EDT
Quoting:Mmmm, little tiny chips embedded in our heads. I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to my embedded computer! The foil hat keeps interference out! No really!


My name is 6 of 12..my friends are in my mind, in my mind, in my mind...

Hey! I was talking to you! No you, not you..

theboomboomcars

Oct 09, 2008
12:35 AM EDT
The Amiga used the same CPU as the Mac, but it had co processors for sound and graphics.

Isn't Haiku an open clone of BeOS, BeOS was cool but not the same as AmigaOS.
gus3

Oct 09, 2008
3:32 AM EDT
That's right, I'd forgotten about the co-processors.

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