Diamond in the rough.

I recently posted the following on the Haiku forum. It is a continuation of the suggested systems thread at http://haiku-os.org/community/forum/suggested_systems_0#comment-21777

"The latest official release was Alpha 3. That was almost six months ago! I would welcome and buy a "Haiku Box" with Alpha 3 installed as long as I could easily upgrade to the next stable release(Beta anyone). I think the "powers that be" should consider making a deal with someone like Zotac! Or suggest new systems that have been tested and are 100% compatible with the current stable release!

I may be wrong, but if we want Haiku to succeed, it needs fully compatible hardware on which to run. Offering Haiku to people to install on their computer which may not be compatible will do little to influence their opinions of Haiku in a positive or constructive way! Offering pre-installed compatible systems on the main website should help prevent most of the errant first opinions of Haiku.

A disclaimer which states that Haiku is not guaranteed to fully operate on anything but pre-built compatible machines would also lessen any misunderstandings! Once Haiku is at r2 or r3, this may be less needed as she gets more drivers for more hardware. There is nothing stopping Haiku from becoming the next "Linux" in the sense she can be the Desktop OS of choice as Linux is the server OS of choice.

Her future is in our hands! We can either complain to no end, or we can do something about it by shaping and molding her into the simple, functional and elegant OS as we already see her to be. Haiku is a diamond in the rough. We may see her beauty and her sparkle, but she needs to be worked with and have the rough edges chipped away to reveal the perfect gem that she is to the world!

I know I am speaking metaphorically, but that is how I see Haiku; a diamond in the rough! The perfect gem is already there. The priceless sculpture is already there! All we need to do is chip away the excess to reveal the work. Technically speaking, we need to finish all the decided features for R1 and do extensive bug and stability testing! You have to admit, the metaphors sound better!"

How more poetic can you get than that? Haiku is a perfect name for such a perfect gem! Some of you still do not see the beauty and elegance of Haiku, but when she is finished and all the rough edges smoothed away, she will sparkle more than them all!