QNX RTOS Source Code Released!

Hi

Though I (and maybe other) still wonder what the "real" reason for this is, it is a nice reading (esp. because there has not been a "comment" tidy-up :-) )

Anyway, something I still don`t know is Neutrino now a direct message passing or only a message passing kernel ?

Thanks, Colin, for the heads-up. This seems like an appropriate move for this class of software and I applaud the initiative. Great!

Jon

Hmm, it appears you still need to be a registered user to get access. Also, from the info page

That doesn't surprise me in the least.

Yes, but according to:

I see that the source to Neutrino will be provided to the public.

Their concept isn't to make the product cost nothing, just to provide the source code with the idea that "The big difference is that we now expect more people to choose QNX for their commercial projects." In other words, they will still get paid and, by their guess, by more people than before.

I'm still glad the source is out there. This allows hobbyists, students, and educators to access the source and learn from it, even if they don't actually use the products commercially.

Jon

Jonathan Kirwan wrote: [...]

The big factor for me is that it's now possible to download the bootable = QNX CD and use it as a primary OS --- it and Photon work rather nicely on old= er hardware (if you have enough memory).

However, I'm *mindboggled* how hard it was to find. It's not that it's no= t available; it's just that it's labelled in such a way that nobody who did= n't already know what to look for would know that it was what they wanted.

I eventually had to download the Linux-hosted dev kit (which doesn't actu= ally work out of the box, but that's another matter) and poke through the documentation before I actually found out there was one! I'm surprised it= 's not being advertised more given that it's the bit that most casual users = will be interested in.

--=20 =E2=94=8C=E2=94=80=E2=94=80 =EF=BD=84=EF=BD=87=EF=BC=A0=EF=BD=83=EF=BD=8F= =EF=BD=97=EF=BD=8C=EF=BD=81=EF=BD=92=EF=BD=8B=EF=BC=8E=EF=BD=83=EF=BD=8F=EF= =BD=8D =E2=94=80=E2=94=80=E2=94=80

That's not new. It has been possible for many years. I didn't even bother to install the older releases. I stored most of the QNX distribution inside of a few Windows files. I boot version 6.1 from a floppy-disc; and, I boot version 6.2 from a ("burned") CD.

Yes! The company has no idea how to market it. On the web-site's home page, they call it simply "Momentics," instead of "QNX Operating System with Momentics." Then, on the next page, they talk about host platforms -- Windows, Linux, and Neutrino. People who aren't already very familiar with QNX won't know that Neutrino is the name of QNX's microKernel (the most basic component of that operating system). So, they can't know that "Neutrino host" means "bootable CD!"

The company needs to do more than show just the product's brand-names. There should be simple descriptions, too, which contain the simple words that visitors to the site are seeking: "operating system," "cross-development," and "boot CD."

We call this stuff simply QNX6 :)

--Armin

Does anyone have URLs that lead to:

Downloadable QNX that installs on an unused hard drive partition

Downloadable .ISO that creates a bootable QNX CD

Donnloadable .IMG that creates a bootable QNX floppy using RawWriteWin

snipped-for-privacy@example.com wrote: [...]

Go here:

=2E..and download either 'QNX Neutrino Lite' or 'QNX Neutrino Host'. (Alt= hough I've only tried the big one.) What you get is an ISO that will either run= as a live CD, or will install onto your hard drive.

You will need a license key if you want to install it, but they're free (= as in beer). Once installed you get a complete QNX/Photon/dev tool/Eclipse setu= p.

Note to QSS: is the license key for Momentics or for QNX itself? Because = if you could produce a slimmed-down free-as-in-beer boot/install CD that gav= e you a working version with the gcc development tools, but without Eclipse, an= d without the license key requirement, I think you'd get a lot more takeup.=

Don't know about that. I'm sure it's possible to make one using the CD, t= hough.

--=20 =E2=94=8C=E2=94=80=E2=94=80 =EF=BD=84=EF=BD=87=EF=BC=A0=EF=BD=83=EF=BD=8F= =EF=BD=97=EF=BD=8C=EF=BD=81=EF=BD=92=EF=BD=8B=EF=BC=8E=EF=BD=83=EF=BD=8F=EF= =BD=8D =E2=94=80=E2=94=80=E2=94=80