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Topics - JTA

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16
General Discussion / Perfect computing system layout, these days?
« on: January 13, 2023, 06:02:26 pm »
For mine, due to advancements in technology that have enabled the magic, it is:

1. a beefy desktop PC (DT):
  - it doesn't move, it sits near my layout desk, which only has KVM on top.
  - it's DIY, so min i7, 32gb ram, ssd's, usb throughout
  - it runs the multi-VM strategy (Host-OS, virtualization layer, many VM's)
  - there's other stuff on the table ... electronic projects, current reading, etc. ... hey, it's an 8' door or layout space! stuff expands to fill ...

2. a beefy laptop (LT):
  - same beefy stuff as DT (only I didn't build it, but I'm keeping an eye on DIY laptop offerings)
  - same multi-VM strategy
  - this sits with me on the couch, in the morning, while the coffee is still feeding in (intravenously) ... there's no way I can operate the vastness of the layout table and its contents yet, but I *can* manage to open the LT lid and resume where I left off from yesterday.

3. the "NAS" ...
  - this is the Synology NAS box; disks, ram, and Synology OS, which BTW, does virtualization as well
  - while I'm still waiting for the coffee to kick in, the NAS has been busy doing tons of stuff in the background. I'm not smart enough (or awake enough) to do these on a regular basis, but I was at least smart enough to get the NAS to do it all.

And that's about it ... two systems & the NAS, whereas before I had dozens, in various states of production, assembly/disassembly, and "thinking about it" piles. I still have a lot of those piles, they've just moved out into long-term storage, awaiting their fate (resurrection in some other project, or extinction in the form of recycling).

I won't even list the books, which have mostly been replaced with digital copies, and the originals also sit out in long-term storage, awaiting their fate. At least here, I hope they will be resurrected one day to fancy bookshelves in a library room with the wooden "ladder" that hangs off of, and rolls around, to all the walls.

Where I see advantages to this recent turn of events, as technology allows simplification down to a few specific machines (or books), others might see only disadvantages. Who doesn't love the smell of 20- or 30-y.o. electronics cooking off, when the power switch is hit.

So, I stagger to the couch and get the laptop open for morning work, or I stagger to the bench area at some point, and switch to the single desktop system for daily work. In both cases, VM's are at the ready. If I have to go on the road, the LT comes with me, and the multi-VM strategy does as well.

OS/2 is in there, and in no way do I see it fading away ... rather, it is enabled by all this technology to keep doing things in its special, OO way. It only takes my imagination, which opens the door for OS/2 ... it does the rest.

Others ... what are you doing?

I will only assume there is some amount of staggering about ...

17
In relation to physical or virtualized OS/2. Are you:

1. not using it at all (OS/2 on physical hardware, and/or no intention to virtualize OS/2 as a guest)
2. running [Virtualbox, VMware, ...] on an x64 host-os, and OS/2 (any version) is a guest VM (among others)
3. virtualization of a different kind (OS/2 is physical, ???/2 used to vm something within OS/2)
4. feel free to opinionize on any aspect of the subject, as in (physical-only OS/2 or bust)
5. any other kind of slice and dice, such as Linux is much better than Win as Host-OS, because ...

I'm successfully using: HostOS=win10x64 on i7/32gb, Vbox=7.04, OS/2=vm's(ArcaOS 5.0.7, OS/2 4.52), many other vm's.

OS/2 runs very well for me in a vbox VM, and affords many testing features (backup via vm files, snapshots for testing changes, experimenting, etc.). I see other posts, over time, where folks have had varying levels of grief. Hopefully, there's much less grief these days, with all the newer virtualization packages and features (Type-2, Type-1).

Trying to get a feel for how everyone else uses or doesn't use virtualization in some form with OS/2 ...

Thanks!


18
General Discussion / OS/2 - Possibilities (Use Cases)
« on: January 09, 2023, 04:54:18 pm »
Many forum postings have subjects like "need this/that utility or program to ..." and the topic might be something like "backup". This leads to discussions of "what works under OS/2", "has this app been ported", etc.

I propose that the use cases & associated problems get defined somewhat, as in the following "backup" example. When that's done for each use case / scenario, and everyone's suggestions are posted, it might become easier to see what works and is available. Here's an example:

Use Case: Backup
  - scenario: OS/2 is primary OS on physical box
    - data lives on a (JFS, other) volume
    - backup: native tools (only, in most cases); options might be:
      - any currently functioning OS/2 backup program
      - rsync utilities (send the data somewhere)
      - rexx/scripting (script the backup w/ associated native utilities/apps)
      - imaging: at machine level (DFSee, others)
  - scenario: OS/2 is in a VM
    - data could still live inside the os/2 volume. or ...
    - could also live on an external volume of Host-OS, and shared to VM
    - backup:
      - all of the native OS/2 solutions  (which can access shared folder)
      - all solutions available to the Host-OS world (depending on choice of Host-OS)
        - any Windows solutions
        - any Linux solutions
     - multitude of free/paid solutions in both camps
     - options to dedupe, as data lives on volume accessible to these methods
     - imaging: backup the container/VM (or perhapsjust the .vhd's or .vmdk's)

The idea is that, once in this use case format, the sets of solutions are more visible in either scenario, and anyone (new or otherwise) who stumbles upon the posting can instantly see available options in both scenario camps. If you've already solved it and moved on, your knowledge & solution will help everyone else (use cases AND solutions).

As others work out even more possibilities, the posting can be updated with the info (or new posting started, hopefully referencing the old posting).

Other possibilities I've recently seen: Multi-User, Compiler(s), Browser(s), Networking (to something or to services), Filesystems ... but by no means a complete list of nifty topics.

Please kick off other use cases that seem interesting or had vexed you previously ...

19
Today, to make OS/2 work well (no problems with drivers, applications, etc.), I do the following:

A.) run a virtual environment (hypervisor: vmware, vbox) ... isolates me from hardware, virtualizes everything, and makes it available to the OS personalities I run (vm's) on top of it. I build one modern/beefy pc (multi-cpu, ram- & ssd-heavy), load a host OS on it, load the virtualization software, and then easily load & switch between running vm's, like others use multiple monitors. File transfers are shared folders between every vm to same space on host os. Backups are as simple as snagging vm copies.

B.) run personality (vm's):
  B1.) OS/2 (ArcaOS) in a vm ... works great! this is a "productivity" vm, because I can:
    - do certain tasks/apps in it (16-bit, 32-bit apps) in a fairly confident manner that nothing will crash.
    - constantly adding things to it to improve my productivity, as I (re)discover them.
    - no driver problems, no graphics/display problems, etc.
  B2.) Windows/Windows Server in vm's ... works great! these are productivity vm's, because I can:
    - run any app that exists for Windows, x32/x64, and don't have to worry about them being on OS/2
    - do development (vstudio, gcc, etc.), scripting (powershell, etc.), and more.
  B3.) linux vm's ... these mostly work great. these are test vm's, because I can:
    - kick the tires on every os out there, could be linux, could be L4 activity
    - bring up an OS, load a virtualization tool in it (nested), and test away.
    - run things that might not be available on either OS/2 or Windows, or is just flat-out better for those things.
C.) Someone says they HATE OS/2, or Windows, or linux? Fine, as the virtualization scheme works the same for all of us. Plug in your choice(s) for vm's.

This in no way reflects upon others running OS/2 (ArcaOS or otherwise, or any other OS) on any given platform directly, or developing for the same. How anybody pulls tools out of the toolbox and uses them is their business. ArcaOS is another tool in the toolbox for me, and OS/2 is pretty much like the Sears tool line ... indestructible.

It's just one way to do OS/2 (& other "productivity" vm's) absolutely trouble-free, and focus on what the OS is good at (running my OS/2 apps or other stuff), and what nearly no other single OS strategy gives me without grief. Anything on the current "wish-lists" for OS/2 ... done; for example, Notepad++ is editing my massive .txt (my "only/preferred" file format) file collection on the shared space. 4OS2 is maneuvering though that same collection. Firefox is d/l'ing files into the shared space. Pick your app ... should mostly be the same result.

That's where virtualization has brought us (me) to, today!

An intermediate step might be vmware esxi (type 1 hypervisor, not "complicated, messy" like hyper-v) on the machine, and a bunch of vm's on top of that. esxi is a great, enterprise-level environment, but might not be that friendly at home as a host os. Something to test, and see if I can further simplify the current scheme.

Tomorrow? The host machine and virtualization may morph into an L4-like microkernel, controlling the whole machine, and all my vm's continue, as vm's on top of vmm's, on top of services, on top of that microkernel. Perhaps like the graphic from NOVA (attached). Not much different than what I'm doing right now ... so, it should be fairly painless; key point to keep in mind is that I don't have to do this anytime soon, as long as the vm's slide over. Perhaps later, the vm's morph into "personalities".

Y1.) nova (seL4) kernel (source code available)
Z1.) personalities:
  - OS/2 becomes a personality ... possibly no kernel/loader needed, only the upper layers (services, vm).
  - Windows becomes a personality ... possibly no kernel/loader needed (this could be ReactOS or others)
  - Linux ... or something else ...
  - most likely (hopefully), "old" vm's continue to be hosted on the future platform; OS/2 (as a vm) keeps running.

It's just virtualization tech, existing for, or coming to, all elements of the stack ... hardware, os, services, apps. I'm doing a form of it today with current virtualization technology, and everyone plays well together. No one OS dominates me or causes me grief; they are all just tools in the toolbox. It's coming tomorrow, in the form of L4 and more ...

As virtualization technology gets upgraded, I'll just unplug older tech, plug in new ones, and will probably be doing the same thing, but on newer virtualization technology of the future. I've been doing this for years now, and keeping my head above the OS wars ... hope to keep doing it for decades more!

What does everyone think? I would like to run this as articles on other websites, to show in a positive fashion what OS/2 can do today, and will probably still be doing tomorrow. Your feedback now will help me get it "shiny" (to quote an old TV series and movie) ...

JTA

20
General Discussion / ArcaOS 5.0.7 - has that "new leather smell" ...
« on: January 05, 2023, 01:54:23 am »
... in this newly purchased OS, running in vbox! Thanks, Arca Noae!

Also gave some devbucks to the BWW folks ... thanks to them for all their efforts!

With time on my hands, was pulling out old stuff, which led to os/2 stuff, then warp 4.52 installs, and finally ArcaOS purchase. OS/2 (AN's ArcaOS) has made my list of OS productivity installs in vbox/vmware, as opposed to those where I just kick the tires every so often to see what's happening.

My ideal system these days? Anybody's hardware, a type-1 hypervisor on the hardware, and productivity OS's in vm's ... alongside other vm's for testing, dev, and so on.

Will start looking around and seeing how I can help others (os/4, es/2, etc.) ... I've time on my hands, and can easily devote testing, documentation, and such hours to your efforts.

Incredible what folks are doing these days!

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