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Syllable Desktop is a discontinued free and open-source lightweight hobbyist operating system for Pentium and compatible processors. Its purpose was to create an easy-to-use desktop operating system for the home and small office user. Its development began in 2002 as a fork of AtheOS<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Another version of Syllable OS is the Syllable Server, which is based on Linux core.<ref name=":0" />
HistoryEdit
Syllable Desktop is a fork of AtheOS, a free and open source operating system that was discontinued. AtheOS was originally developed to be an Amiga clone for x86 processors, and also took inspiration from BeOS for the file system it used.<ref name=":1" /> Syllable was started around July 2002 because the sole developer of AtheOS went inactive for nine months.<ref name=":0" /> Syllable Desktop aimed to be a successor to AtheOS and expand on it, such as adding additional hardware support.<ref name=":1" /> Further development aimed at porting additional software and libraries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The last source code commit was in 2012, but the developer is working on restarting the project according to information on the website.
FeaturesEdit
Syllable Desktop has a native Webkit-based web browser named Webster (formerly ABrowse), an email client named Whisper, a media player, an IDE, and other applications.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Features according to the official website include:
- Native 64-bit journaled file system, the AtheOS File System (AFS)<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- C++ oriented API
- Object-oriented graphical desktop environment on a native GUI architecture
- Mostly POSIX compliant<ref name=":3" />
- Software ports, including Vim, Perl, Python, Apache, others.
- GNU toolchain (GCC, Glibc, Binutils, Make)
- Preemptive multitasking with multithreading
- Symmetric multiprocessing (multiple processor) support
- Device drivers for most common hardware (video, sound, network chips)
- File system drivers for FAT (read/write), NTFS (read) and ext2 (read)
- Rebol as system scripting language
ReceptionEdit
OSNews gave a positive review of Syllable, calling it "astoundingly complete for a hobbyist OS at version 0.5" and praising the speed of the OS, but noting that some features and subsystems were not yet implemented, the limited range of apps, and the occasional stability issues.<ref name=":2" /> Linux.com noted similar points in their review.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> pro-linux.de stated that Syllable was a promising upcoming operating system.<ref name=":1" /> A review by Root.cz was negative, stating that "for now, Syllable is just one of the less successful alternatives to Linux or *BSD."<ref name=":3" />
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Linux Format 78 (April 2006)
- Linux Format 105 (May 2008)
External linksEdit
Template:Unix-like Template:Hobbyist operating systems Template:FOSS