Quick Links
Links
Site Links
Categories
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 09, 2003 10:43 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 09, 2003 10:43 AM
Itching to Write Again
One thing that I've been interested in and following
for years is the (Open Source) GNUStep project. I think when I get a chance, I'm
going to try and write a simple application in OS X Cocoa and under GNUStep and
document the process. Either I'll help pave the way for people to start
experimenting with Cocoa/GNUStep as a cross-platform environment, or I'll prove
that it's still not a viable solution. I hope it'll be the former.
Not much to report today. In a few hours I'll be
meeting with one of my committee members to go over the masters paper. I suspect
he will make comments, suggestions and requests that will have me busy for the
next week. (I've also got to make overheads for the presentation/defense, and I
suspect that will take a lot of
work.)
I'm really itching to get on to the other things in my life. I wish I could have defended today so it would have been behind me. I'm anxious to get my computer business back up to life. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to the late nineties when I was making well over $100K a year, but living within the poverty line is just getting old.
I'm also itching to write again. One thing that I've been interested in and following for years is the (Open Source) GNUStep project . For those not in the know, let me give some background.
About 15 years ago, Steve Jobs returned from his forced exile from Apple by introducing his NeXT company with its NeXT Cube computer running the NeXTStep operating system. NeXT was arguably 10 years ahead of its time. It was said that a programmer well-versed in NeXTStep development was about 10 times as productive as a typical developer. Eight years later NeXT and Sun paired up to release the OpenStep specification, an open spec, in the hopes that this incredible development platform would be moved to different architectures (including Windows). Sadly, the world did not beat a path to their door and OpenStep started to die a sad death as it faded into obscurity.
Four or five years later (late 90's) Apple welcomed Steve Jobs back as CEO, and before long the next generation operating system, OS X, was based on... you guessed it! OpenStep! They call it the Cocoa framework (huh?) but it's OpenStep. Steve Jobs has stated in a keynote speech that the superiority of Cocoa (OpenStep) is what has enabled Apple to pump out new & improved versions of OS X on yearly releases, as well as the popular iLife applications: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, etc.
Well, nobody should be surprised that GNUStep, an Open Source implementation of OpenStep, has been brewing for years. It's goal has been to bring the OpenStep system to various Unix/Linux platforms. (And eventually Windows.) Its progress has been slow, its visibility has been minimal, but fortunately it has progressed forward until today when they have their frameworks almost 100% complete and their development environment is somewhere around beta-quality.
What I'm wondering is why there hasn't been a rush of developers who would like to write powerful Apple (Cocoa) applications, and quickly offer native Unix/Linux ports as well. Granted, Apple now has good X11 and Gnome support, so a person could start in Linux and port to Apple, but I really think people should be taking advantage of this "revolutionary" development system that is, in my own humble opinion, a "best kept secret."
So I think when I get a chance, I'm going to try and write a simple application in OS X Cocoa and under GNUStep and document the process. Either I'll help pave the way for people to start experimenting with Cocoa/GNUStep as a cross-platform environment, or I'll prove that it's still not a viable solution. I hope it'll be the former.
Of course, I can't start writing until (a) I've defended the Masters Degree next week and (b) I'm around a Linux system where I can do the GNUStep installation and configuration.
(And again, I keep wondering if there's any way I could ever actually make some money doing this article writing. If anybody has some good suggestions, I'm all ears!)
I'm really itching to get on to the other things in my life. I wish I could have defended today so it would have been behind me. I'm anxious to get my computer business back up to life. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to the late nineties when I was making well over $100K a year, but living within the poverty line is just getting old.
I'm also itching to write again. One thing that I've been interested in and following for years is the (Open Source) GNUStep project . For those not in the know, let me give some background.
About 15 years ago, Steve Jobs returned from his forced exile from Apple by introducing his NeXT company with its NeXT Cube computer running the NeXTStep operating system. NeXT was arguably 10 years ahead of its time. It was said that a programmer well-versed in NeXTStep development was about 10 times as productive as a typical developer. Eight years later NeXT and Sun paired up to release the OpenStep specification, an open spec, in the hopes that this incredible development platform would be moved to different architectures (including Windows). Sadly, the world did not beat a path to their door and OpenStep started to die a sad death as it faded into obscurity.
Four or five years later (late 90's) Apple welcomed Steve Jobs back as CEO, and before long the next generation operating system, OS X, was based on... you guessed it! OpenStep! They call it the Cocoa framework (huh?) but it's OpenStep. Steve Jobs has stated in a keynote speech that the superiority of Cocoa (OpenStep) is what has enabled Apple to pump out new & improved versions of OS X on yearly releases, as well as the popular iLife applications: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, etc.
Well, nobody should be surprised that GNUStep, an Open Source implementation of OpenStep, has been brewing for years. It's goal has been to bring the OpenStep system to various Unix/Linux platforms. (And eventually Windows.) Its progress has been slow, its visibility has been minimal, but fortunately it has progressed forward until today when they have their frameworks almost 100% complete and their development environment is somewhere around beta-quality.
What I'm wondering is why there hasn't been a rush of developers who would like to write powerful Apple (Cocoa) applications, and quickly offer native Unix/Linux ports as well. Granted, Apple now has good X11 and Gnome support, so a person could start in Linux and port to Apple, but I really think people should be taking advantage of this "revolutionary" development system that is, in my own humble opinion, a "best kept secret."
So I think when I get a chance, I'm going to try and write a simple application in OS X Cocoa and under GNUStep and document the process. Either I'll help pave the way for people to start experimenting with Cocoa/GNUStep as a cross-platform environment, or I'll prove that it's still not a viable solution. I hope it'll be the former.
Of course, I can't start writing until (a) I've defended the Masters Degree next week and (b) I'm around a Linux system where I can do the GNUStep installation and configuration.
(And again, I keep wondering if there's any way I could ever actually make some money doing this article writing. If anybody has some good suggestions, I'm all ears!)
Posted: Fri - December 5, 2003 at 09:08 AM