World: r3wp

We ported WebKit, Apple's web rendering engine, to Syllable to build 
a new browser. Our old browser was based on KHTML, the open source 
engine that Apple forked to develop into WebKit

Since the publication, Apple has already come to our mailing list 
to ask us to join their WebKit project

The second announcement is that we are introducing a server companion 
to our Syllable desktop system. Syllable Server is based on the Linux 
kernel, but otherwise as much like Syllable as possible

I think it should be not "compliments Syllable on the desktop." but 
"complements"

I know. Anything else to mention on us creating a new operating system 
and a new browser?

well, that's nice .. but I was hoping for a Rebol announcement :(

But if it means I can get a server environment that runs vmware without 
endless issues ... then it's great news!!

REBOL/Core is included in the Linux. Since it's a Linux, it didn't 
have to be ported

I didn't want to make that part of the announcements yet, to give 
people time to digest the idea of our use of Linux. That's plenty 
controversial already :-)

The next step would be porting /View to our graphical toolkit, and 
that's where REBOL 3 will come in

We haven't worked on VMWare yet, but someone will integrate it someday

I guess we're not in the loop so didn't realise that the use of linux 
was going to be contraversial.

The whole base of our project is doing things better than other systems. 
That's Linux in the first place, because we're using the same open-source 
parts. So we always get a lot of criticism from Linux fanboys for 
even trying. They're at least as good in FUD as they say Microsoft 
is towards Linux

Now we're going to get the heat from people who believe in our project 
- or say they did - for incorporating the Linux kernel

But this is still between free software fans. Once we announce that 
we are going to ship closed, proprietary REBOL in the base distribution, 
we will get into a whole other fight about violating open-source 
purity

isnt purity grand ;)

Yeah

heres hoping BeOS/Haiku wont have the same issue :(

Our purity is our focus on technical excellence, but that's almost 
impossible to explain in today's world

Haiku is BSD-licensed, so that's yet another scene

Syllable was originally an Atheos fork want it after teh other guy 
stopped writing it?

excuse my terrible typing :(

Correct

what is the purpose of server edition?

To be a server :-)

I don't understand its architecture - is it linux kernel with Syllable 
API?

Yes, basically

And - will you switch to linux kernel also for desktop edition too?

is there a danger that it will cannibalize your syllable desktop 
setups?

No, that's why we call it Syllable Server

but wouldnt a syllable server user have the best of both worlds?

The cannibalization issue is real, but we are facing it with full 
conscience. It's strategic. We have failed to attract application 
developers so far, so by putting our APIs on top of Linux we should 
finally convince them

People will write for the Linux, but the apps will run on Desktop 
as well, so it's a win

that' a good plan

Desktop will still be superior for desktop use. Our founder didn't 
create our kernel for nothing

Thanks

does syllable use a kit system like beos did?

Yes, same model, with minor variations

nice - i really liked that about beos

Another interesting effect is that we can now show very precisely 
how parts of Linux compare to ours

kit system?

It's a semi-microkernel approach

btw - is there any plan for R3 clone? Most open source parts will 
be usable, API seems to be defined, so maybe cloning effort is easier 
now? Or don't you mind using 3rd party binary packages?

We have a modular monolithic kernel, not a real microkernel. But 
still, most functionality runs in userspace servers. BeOS groups 
them and calls each a kit

Cloning R3 is pretty much beyond our reach. We only have time to 
integrate existing parts

So the strategy is to use ORCA for simple system parts, to keep the 
base system open source

but Orca will soon become absolutly forgotten imo, as R3 introduces 
lots of new things to REBOL. I think it will soon become irrelevant 
product ....

R3 will be extra functionally, but its openness should help appeace 
open-source people

ORCA is not irrelevant. It's an essential system part of both Syllable 
Server and Syllable Desktop

I know that it is important for you, but I fear it will die, once 
R3 is out, due to incompatibilities? Is ORCA still being developed?