ArcaOS, KolibriOS, AROS, FreeDOS, Plan 9, TempleOS, or even just an older version of Windows or Linux.
What’s your use case? How’s your experience?
I occasionally use Haiku on an older laptop, just for fun.
I mostly use my Linux box for gaming, so Haiku is not the best fit for this.
I want to use Sailfish on my phone. I used to daily it three or four years back, and I picked up an Xperia 10 IV last year in the hopes it would get a release as the 10 I, II and III have previously. Alas it appears less and less likely each day.
Does NixOS count? I’ve been using it for a few months now and love it.
Yeah! Nix is a declarative, reproducible operating system; so instead of changing configuration files for each service (wayland, ssh, etc.) you have an OS-level configuration file that configures and deploys all services. If the configuration works once, each time you apply the configuration (to any computer) it will work in exactly the same way again. Changing this configuration file creates a new “generation” of the operating system, and you can switch seamlessly between generations – so if your wayland changes brick your system, it’s really easy to roll back. It’s also really easy to test things and roll forward.
The downside is that this configuration file comes with a lot of syntatical magic that requires reading a ton of source code. You also have to learn the Nix programming language, which is relatively simple by itself; but the way it interacts with your servers can be really opaque.
If you’re a programmer or really excited by the idea of a declarative, reproducible operating system, you will seriously love it. If you’re more of a Linux enthusiast… not so much.
I hadn’t checked in on the HaikuOS project in well over a decade. It’s great to see all of the progress they’ve made!
TempleOS is cool. You don’t need the Internet, it establishes a direct connection to the Seventh Heaven in the process.
