On 9 Nov 99, at 12:48, Rui Gil wrote:
> I don't know if JOS has a PR person,
> but an article pop-up in JavaLobby (www.javalobby.org)
> asking about the current status os JOS.
>
> Perhaps someone better informed could respond.
Thanks for the heads up. Although I'm not a PR person, I've tried
to post a reasonable followup.
-iain
****************
JOS Silently Flourishing... 510000000000600
Posted by Iain Shigeoka, 11 Nov
Hello,
First, I'd like to insert a quick disclaimer that I'm speaking for
myself, and not as a JOS "official".
>From my viewpoint, the JOS Project is silently flourishing. The
current JOS status can be summarized as follows:
1) A native kernel and JVM is in the late phases of initial
implementation. It's booting, painting the screen, grabbing
keyboard input, running tests, etc. There are still some very rough
spots that need to be ironed out and some minor holes in the
implementation that remain. But its getting very close.
2) The core group is now turning its eye towards porting classpath
(www.classpath.org) as the new, highest priority task for the
project. This will create a full Java Platform (as per Sun's definition)
sans GUI on JOS. Finishing the remaining tasks in 1) and
completing 2) will provide a full OS and java libraries. Most pure
java apps should then run on JOS without modification.
As for explaining the lack of news concerning the project, the JOS
project is IMHO experiencing two simultaneous phenomenon. First,
we are in the implementation phase of writing a kernel. Second, our
website has gone through a couple of meltdowns recently and we
have moved our mailing lists from one server to another.
It would seem natural to me for a project of this type to go through
at least one large swing in visible activity during kernel
implementation. In the beggining, JOS was an idea and so heavy
discussion and brainstorming was the order of the day. A lot of
documentation was created. This creates a lot of visible activity.
The core contributors were spending their time developing these
documents.
Now that we've moved into initial implementation, we're not
brainstorming as much. The core developers are writing code and
not producing web documents. So the visible activity has gone way
down. In addition, other projects (such as the user interface group)
is basically in a holding pattern waiting for an initial kernel release.
The particulars of kernel code development means that, for quite a
large portion of code development, there's no real distributable beta
code that people can try out. So visible progress appears to be
"stalled". IMHO, I think this illusion of the project being stalled out,
will continue until we get the kernel and a base java library
(classpath) working. Once we can release a beta os and libraries, I
think you will see a sudden flurry of JOS related activity. We very
tentatively are targeting a spring beta release.
I should also add that development is going slower than many other
open source projects because (as far as I'm aware) all the core
developers are employed or in school full-time. So we don't have a
group of "super developers" that can contribute 40+ hours a week
to the project. JOS develompent ramains slow and steady.
The website problems that JOS has suffered recently are due to
many factors. The end result has been that our collaborative
document web (the Wiki) has been moved to a temporary server
(with some links breaking during the move), while the main web
page, and CVS server remains at the original web server
(www.jos.org). In addition, early this year, we relocated our mailing
lists to our main web server which has possibly "stranded" some
older subscribers. Amid this chaos, its been hard to keep the
website running, let alone add content.
In fact, as the JOS webmaster, I've been spending all my JOS time
working on the next generation of the JOS website instead of
cleaning up the site and adding content. I hope that this effort will
pay off in increased usability and functionality of the site in the near
future. Both of which will probably needed when the next rush of
activity occurs at JOS (hopefully during a spring beta release!). For
the short term though, its meant reduced information and a hobbled
site.
The JOS project is always looking for volunteers! I highly suggest
browsing the Wiki, and joining the mailing lists if you're interested.
There's a decent amount of traffic on the mailing lists, and the wiki
holds a wealth of information. If you want to help out on the
website, register for a WikiName, put on a hard hat and help us to
clean up our Wiki!
Other questions about the JOS project should be sent to the
general mailing list ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Alternatively, you can send
me a note and I'll try and answer it or pass it on to the appropriate
person(s).
-iain shigeoka (JOS Webmaster [EMAIL PROTECTED])
_______________________________________________
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