We talk about the Genode project and Sculpt OS quite regularly on OSNews, but every time I’ve tried using Sculpt OS, I’ve always found it so different and so unique compared to everything else that I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I assume this stems from nothing but my own shortcomings, because the Genode project often hammers on the fact that Sculpt OS is in daily-driver use by a lot of people within and without the project, so there must be something here just not clicking for me.
Well, it seems I’m actually not the only one with difficulties getting started with Sculpt OS’ unique structure and interface, because Norman Feske, co-founder of Genode Labs, has published a lengthy, detailed, but very interesting and easy to follow screencast explaining exactly how to use Sculpt OS and its unique features and characteristics.
Even though Sculpt OS has been in routine daily use for years now, many outside observers still tend to perceive it as fairly obscure because it does not follow the usual preconceptions of a consumer-oriented operating system. Extensive documentation exists, but it leaves a fairly technical impression at a cursory glance, which may scare some people away.
The screencast below aims at making the system a little bit more approachable. It walks you through the steps of downloading, installing, booting the system image, navigating the administrative user interface, and interactively extending and customizing the system. The tour is wrapped up with the steps for creating your personal sculpted OS on a bootable USB stick.
↫ Norman Feske
After watching this, I genuinely feel I have much better grasp of how to use Sculpt OS and just how powerful it really is, and that it’s really not as difficult to use as it may look at first glance. The next time I set some time aside for Sculpt OS, I feel I’ll have a much better grasp of what to do and how to use it properly.
Unfortunately, our perception about how to interact with a computer, from graphical interface and down to the command line, is pretty much Windows or Unix-like. I have been playing with Openvms hobbyist, it is so great see how different a command line could be.
what is great about it?
I have been using this type of interface with litestep since at least 1998. Yes in the beginning it was all about pretty, but on a 486 machine i realized that litestep can save memory and cpu cycles. I ran litestep as a replacement until xlibx was deprecated in favour of nlibs ( a move that killed litestep more or less)
Either way my build was always to replicate the function menu of litestep on linux !popup. i am a shitty programmer so i never got it right. I want the judgen theme (hope he rest well in programmer heaven) of litestep transfered to a ui in linux today. EVERYTHING was contained in the right click menu (in apps you had to alt+right click though)
I really enjoyed my playing with Sculpt. I am no coder but am able to assemble the OS from a kit of parts and that is very satisfying. Just like I am no cabinet maker but can happily assemble an Ikea furniture.
The “live” experience (using system RAM and built-in demos) reminds me of the very early days of home computers which you would have to load up the environment from tape or whatever. Good times! Of course Sculpt does – when you are ready – enable you to save persistently like any proper OS.
I am in the process of transitioning from Mac to Haiku but do wonder if I can just go directly to Sculpt.