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BeIA

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BeIA, or BeOS for Internet Appliances, was a minimized version of the BeOS operating system for embedded systems that was announced by Be, Inc. on February 7, 2000.[1]

The BeIA system presents a browser-based interface to the user. The browser was based on the Opera 4.0 code base, and was named Wagner. Unlike BeOS, which runs the Tracker and Deskbar at boot-up, BeIA boots straight into the Opera browser interface (much like the later Chrome OS does with the Google Chrome browser). While it is possible to boot BeIA into an interface similar to the standard BeOS, doing so involves special knowledge.

BeIA compression techniques[]

BeIA employs a number of techniques to minimize the operating system footprint. These involve a number of pre-processes which yield an installable file system image.[2]

The Compressed File System (CFS) was used to reduce the file system size. CFS was a file system created in house at Be that aimed to compress the files within itself to save space. The filesystem had a similar set of properties to the native BeOS file system BFS, but some of the more advanced features (live queries and attributes) were either broken or non-functional in many of the Beta releases of the software.

BeOS uses ELF format executable files, much as many other operating systems. BeIA uses an extended version of ELF, the name of which is unknown but which has come to be known as CELF, from the CEL magic word within the executable header and the fact that it is derived from ELF format executables through a compression process. The CELF (Compressed ELF) files use a patented technique to compress the op codes within the executable and reduce the overall footprint of each executable file. The file was compressed by creating a set of dictionaries that contain the op codes and are read by the kernel at start up and mapped into the executable in memory at run time. This makes the file fast loading, but has an extreme disadvantage, in that the dictionary is not extendible by the user and adding extra executable was not possible when using CELF compression techniques unless the executable symbols existed within the dictionary already present. The creation of CELF executables is generally done in batch. The entire system will be compressed and a file system image created from the crushed files.

Crushing was the term coined for the compression of the system using CELF format. BeIA can run either as CELF or ELF based. However, it can only use one or the other file formats.

History[]

In 2001, a Zanussi "internet fridge" toured the US with a BeIA-powered DT 300 webpad docked in its door. Work on BeIA was discontinued in November of that year with the closure of Be, Inc., which was acquired by Palm, Inc..

Version history[]

The following BeIA versions were released to developers at various stages of the development:

  • Pre 1.0 build - reports to be 4.5.2, this is likely a hang over from the BeOS version. Pre-numbering of BeIA.
  • 1.0 beta 9 (uncrushed binaries are compatible with Release Candidate)
  • 1.0 Release Candidate (circa the "Clipper")
  • 1.0
  • 2.0

Supported devices[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Be Unveils BeIA, New Software Platform for Internet Appliances and Entertainment Devices, Be, Inc. 2020-02-07. Archived 2000-08-15.
  2. ↑ BeIA compression patent United States Patent: 6883087

External links[]

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