Living with QNX as your only OS

Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

I’m considering putting QNX-only machines on developer’s
desks. It’s an “eating your own food” approach. But it
may drive people nuts.

Anticipated problems:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?
  2. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.
  3. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

I’ve been developing with a Windows 2000 machine and a
QNX machine on a KVM switch, but that’s a bit much for
routine use.

John Nagle
Animats

G’day John

We have a couple of development machine running AMD chips. Our developers
have win XP on the desktop running all the Microsoft stuff and we use
Phindows to access the development servers. Works quite well for us.
QNX has great strengths, but not as a replacement for XP + office IMHO

Matt

Hi,

I have used in the past Phindows on a win9X and XP machine for development,
either Phindows 1.14 or Phindows 2.0 both seem to work fine for me. I’ve
also been evaluating using the Eclipse IDE for development and testing, has
some very nice tools for multiple people development…still testing
this though.

I use two machines in general but when in the field I have my laptop which
has a dual XP / QNX boot.

There is an xPDF viewer available, hard to replace MS office and the other
pritty tools/apps though, you can to some extent.

Burning CD’s and the like I usually use my XP machine and backup source to
CD via SAMBA or NFS mounts (or FTP the file).

Brett.

“John Nagle” <nagle@downside.com> wrote in message
news:3EDD6CE9.9020303@downside.com

Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

I’m considering putting QNX-only machines on developer’s
desks. It’s an “eating your own food” approach. But it
may drive people nuts.

Anticipated problems:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?
  2. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.
  3. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

I’ve been developing with a Windows 2000 machine and a
QNX machine on a KVM switch, but that’s a bit much for
routine use.

John Nagle
Animats

Forgot to say that the Eclipse software can be QNX or windows hosted

“Brett Wilton” <bdwilton@xtra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:bbjuta$h23$1@inn.qnx.com

Hi,

I have used in the past Phindows on a win9X and XP machine for
development,
either Phindows 1.14 or Phindows 2.0 both seem to work fine for me. I’ve
also been evaluating using the Eclipse IDE for development and testing,
has
some very nice tools for multiple people development…still testing
this though.

I use two machines in general but when in the field I have my laptop which
has a dual XP / QNX boot.

There is an xPDF viewer available, hard to replace MS office and the other
pritty tools/apps though, you can to some extent.

Burning CD’s and the like I usually use my XP machine and backup source to
CD via SAMBA or NFS mounts (or FTP the file).

Brett.

“John Nagle” <> nagle@downside.com> > wrote in message
news:> 3EDD6CE9.9020303@downside.com> …
Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

I’m considering putting QNX-only machines on developer’s
desks. It’s an “eating your own food” approach. But it
may drive people nuts.

Anticipated problems:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?
  2. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.
  3. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

I’ve been developing with a Windows 2000 machine and a
QNX machine on a KVM switch, but that’s a bit much for
routine use.

John Nagle
Animats

“John Nagle” <nagle@downside.com> wrote in message
news:3EDD6CE9.9020303@downside.com

Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

I beleive trying to use QNX as a generic desktop OS is a waste of time (if
time==$). I have been using a two machines setup, one QNX6/4 the other XP +
Phindows for years and get to use the best of both world. Last think I’m
insterested in is fighting getting a USB modem, latest GFX card, sound card
to work properly. Only thing I need from the QNX machine is that it can
boot (in text mode or VGA mode is ok) and support the networkd card.

If you have multiple developers they can all share the same server via
Phindows. So when you update software only one machines need to be updated.
Some of my customer have a redundant server just in case the main server
dies.

I’m considering putting QNX-only machines on developer’s
desks. It’s an “eating your own food” approach. But it
may drive people nuts.

Anticipated problems:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?
  2. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.
  3. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

I’ve been developing with a Windows 2000 machine and a
QNX machine on a KVM switch, but that’s a bit much for
routine use.

John Nagle
Animats

Igor Kovalenko <kovalenko@attbi.com> wrote:

If you have multiple developers they can all share the same server via
Phindows. So when you update software only one machines need to be
updated.
Some of my customer have a redundant server just in case the main server
dies.

You can do it the other way around. Have a WinXP server and use VNC to
access Windows desktop from QNX ‘workstations’. You need VNC server on
Windows. Or perhaps RDP protocol client (i am not sure if one is ported to
QNX already).

have one qnx server may save you the qnx license fees. most big companies already
have the Microsoft site license so adding more Windows machines costs
minimally.

btw, it is rumored RDP client already exists in qnx. (we all know cdm likes
to tease us in the #qnx for things that are NOT yet available to the generil public :slight_smile:

“Mario Charest” postmaster@127.0.0.1 wrote in message
news:bbl0cq$p3a$1@inn.qnx.com

“John Nagle” <> nagle@downside.com> > wrote in message
news:> 3EDD6CE9.9020303@downside.com> …
Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?


I beleive trying to use QNX as a generic desktop OS is a waste of time (if
time==$). I have been using a two machines setup, one QNX6/4 the other XP
+

That is only true if you actually need stuff like office on developer
machines (i.e., they are not just software developers but do some other
tasks). If most of their work is actual writing/testing/debugging of code
AND the target platform is x86 then you’re gonna win in terms of time, not
lose. Especially if your developers can’t easily coexist on one box (i.e.,
lot of rebooting and other mututally disruptive tests).

Phindows for years and get to use the best of both world. Last think I’m
insterested in is fighting getting a USB modem, latest GFX card, sound
card
to work properly. Only thing I need from the QNX machine is that it can
boot (in text mode or VGA mode is ok) and support the networkd card.

Not everyone have such limited needs.

If you have multiple developers they can all share the same server via
Phindows. So when you update software only one machines need to be
updated.
Some of my customer have a redundant server just in case the main server
dies.

You can do it the other way around. Have a WinXP server and use VNC to
access Windows desktop from QNX ‘workstations’. You need VNC server on
Windows. Or perhaps RDP protocol client (i am not sure if one is ported to
QNX already).

I’m considering putting QNX-only machines on developer’s
desks. It’s an “eating your own food” approach. But it
may drive people nuts.

Anticipated problems:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?

AbiWord is usable to some extent (depends on how much of Word functionality
you need). If they need to write documentation, you could consider writing
it in HTML, perhaps using Mozilla Composer.

  1. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.

Latest XPDF works, in most cases. It does not look as good as Acrobat, but
usable.

  1. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

QNX6.2.1 actually can write CDs (there’s experimental package) and DVD-RAMs
(out of box). You can also backup remotely to your Windows server.

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

People do it all the ways, depending on what they need and what they can
afford.

– igor

“Igor Kovalenko” <kovalenko@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:bbl4qv$cd$1@inn.qnx.com

“Mario Charest” postmaster@127.0.0.1 wrote in message
news:bbl0cq$p3a$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …

“John Nagle” <> nagle@downside.com> > wrote in message
news:> 3EDD6CE9.9020303@downside.com> …
Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?


I beleive trying to use QNX as a generic desktop OS is a waste of time
(if
time==$). I have been using a two machines setup, one QNX6/4 the other
XP
+

That is only true if you actually need stuff like office on developer
machines (i.e., they are not just software developers but do some other
tasks).

Your trying to get me started Igor, LOL!

If most of their work is actual writing/testing/debugging of code
AND the target platform is x86 then you’re gonna win in terms of time, not
lose.

I think that’s only true if you live in a bubble. I get email from people
with power point presentation. I get presentation from marketing divx
format. I’ve done video conference from my PC. I received a demo of audio
stuff that was build with midi file. The list goes on. Last time I use
AbiWord to edit a customer’s document, they asked me why I screwed all the
table format :wink:

Especially if your developers can’t easily coexist on one box (i.e.,
lot of rebooting and other mututally disruptive tests).

Phindows for years and get to use the best of both world. Last think
I’m
insterested in is fighting getting a USB modem, latest GFX card, sound
card
to work properly. Only thing I need from the QNX machine is that it can
boot (in text mode or VGA mode is ok) and support the networkd card.

Not everyone have such limited needs.

I consider this to be usual need for development machine, I don’t see what
more is need to develop. Of course if the development machine is also the
target that is a different story, you can’t avoid setup the hardware that is
required.

If you have multiple developers they can all share the same server via
Phindows. So when you update software only one machines need to be
updated.
Some of my customer have a redundant server just in case the main server
dies.

You can do it the other way around. Have a WinXP server and use VNC to
access Windows desktop from QNX ‘workstations’. You need VNC server on
Windows. Or perhaps RDP protocol client (i am not sure if one is ported to
QNX already).

That would also by possible with Citrix no?

I use Remotely-Anywhere to access my WinXP machine remotely. The client
“only” need a browser with JAVA. That is how I’m actually making this post.
I’m accessing my Windows machine at home from a InternetExplorer on a
windows machine at a customer site. That’s great cause I don’t need to
install any software to access my machine. Last time I tried it from QNX6
though it didn’t work.

How do people usually do this? Two machines side by side?
Dual-boot? QNX only?

People do it all the ways, depending on what they need and what they can
afford.

Some people have had some level of success running QNX6 inside a virtual
machine under Windows (don’t remember which software).

Once I get use to the IDE I will probably switch to cross development and
only use the QNX machine as a target.

– igor

John Nagle <nagle@downside.com> wrote:

Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

I do. I have a laptop that runs windows when I need windows to run things
like PowerPoint and Word (when Abi can’t open the file). But I would say
that I am >99% of the time running under procnto-smp and most of the time
my laptop is under procnto (gives me a nice qnet accessable serial port). :slight_smile:

  1. ABIword - friend or foe? OpenOffice doesn’t
    support QNX, does it?

Abi works as well on Photon as other platforms, which means that there are a
lot of word files it won’t open, but it is decent for writing docs. I
actually use Mozilla and it’s HTML editor most of the time for doing my docs.
Then it can be viewed/edited anywhere.

  1. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.

Those docs are included in the helpviewer. The PDF versions are to make
life on Windows/Solaris/… easier. You can also use xpdf under Photon to
view PDF files. Someone really needs to get xpdf setup properly to map in
our fonts so it can do a better job rendering though.

  1. QNX can’t write CDs, DVDs, or DAT tapes. How
    do you back up or make copies of anything?

You can use cdrecord and burn discs under Neutrino. Have been able to do so
for a couple of months now. There is even someone (community) that was
working on a Photon front end to cdrecord/mkisofs.

Hopefully this is of some help…

chris

\

Chris McKillop <cdm@qnx.com> “The faster I go, the behinder I get.”
Software Engineer, QSSL – Lewis Carroll –
http://qnx.wox.org/

John Nagle <nagle@downside.com> wrote:

Lots of comments on other bits, but I don’t think I saw the
following addressed:

  1. The QNX documentation CD consists of PDFs, but
    there is no PDF viewer for QNX.

Everything in the QNX documentation is also available in html, and
in self-hosted the helpviewer is an easier and more convenient way
of viewing the docs then Adobe Acrobat on the .pdfs under Windows.
(Even under Windows, I use the html to browse the docs, rather than
Acrobat.)

I think, in fact, the PDFs are mostly there in case someone wants to
print any of the books, as a PDF will provide a far more consistent
predictable (and nice) printed result than the html (or helpviewer),
especially as it would allow you to print an entire document, rather than
just an html “page” at a time.


-David

QNX Training Services
http://www.qnx.com/support/training/
Please followup in this newsgroup if you have further questions.

“Chris McKillop” <cdm@qnx.com> wrote in message
news:bblgpj$1b9$1@nntp.qnx.com

John Nagle <> nagle@downside.com> > wrote:
Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?


I do. I have a laptop that runs windows when I need windows to run things
like PowerPoint and Word (when Abi can’t open the file). But I would say
that I am >99% of the time running under procnto-smp and most of the time
my laptop is under procnto (gives me a nice qnet accessable serial port).
:slight_smile:

Don’t forget Chris that you are very skilled, have lots of experience at
porting (obviously). Not everybody had this skill. Getting a machine to be
more desktop friendly under QNX6 takes some experience, which in itself is
probably not a bad think as you may be force to get deeper into the OS).

I remember when samba wasn’t available for QNX6 I ended up porting it myself
and told other it was an easy process, but these people had LOTS of problem
do it themselves because of their lack of experience.

You may be 99% of the time running QNX6, which I have no doubt is possible.
But what that number doesn’t tell is what you cannot do or what you had to
give up in order to acheive that number 99%. I remember when I had a Amiga
and was developing with it, the “price” I payed (which I was happy to pay
cause I just couldn’t smell a Windows machine).

In the QNX4 days I spent time to make it into a desktop machine because that
was the day of Windows98, constant crashing and resinstalling, slow
environment and high hardware requirement . But with QNX6/GCC the
requirement for the hardware is the same as XP (or very close), and XP is
stable enough so it doesn’t create any frustration :wink:

At any rate this is very subjective. I’m probably bias myself :wink:

Don’t forget Chris that you are very skilled, have lots of experience at
porting (obviously). Not everybody had this skill. Getting a machine to be
more desktop friendly under QNX6 takes some experience, which in itself is
probably not a bad think as you may be force to get deeper into the OS).

Of course! I assumed that all the replies to John’s posting would be very
subjective (asside from direct answers to the posed questions).

I remember when samba wasn’t available for QNX6 I ended up porting it myself
and told other it was an easy process, but these people had LOTS of problem
do it themselves because of their lack of experience.

Isn’t it nice that we have an online/cd repository of this stuff now? :slight_smile:

chris


Chris McKillop <cdm@qnx.com> “The faster I go, the behinder I get.”
Software Engineer, QSSL – Lewis Carroll –
http://qnx.wox.org/

I remember when samba wasn’t available for QNX6 I ended up porting it
myself
and told other it was an easy process, but these people had LOTS of
problem
do it themselves because of their lack of experience.


Isn’t it nice that we have an online/cd repository of this stuff now? > :slight_smile:

VERY NICE indeed!!!

chris


Chris McKillop <> cdm@qnx.com> > “The faster I go, the behinder I get.”
Software Engineer, QSSL – Lewis Carroll –
http://qnx.wox.org/

John Nagle wrote:

Does anyone run a shop where QNX is the only desktop OS?
Can you really get anything done in that mode?

Thanks for all the replies.

That’s very helpful.

John Nagle
Animats