An Interview With Mensys About eComStation
I’ve recently had the chance to ask Joachim Benjamins of Mensys about the state of eComStation, their involvement with the product and where it fits in this mordern world of Linux and Windows operating systems. Here is the interview in full. Enjoy.
1. TheNerd: What is Mensys and how are you involved?
Joachim: Mensys started out as a company that saw the lack of OS/2 specific knowledge and product availability as an opportunity to start a mailorder firm to satisfy that demand. I have been working here since 1995, and have seen the company grow and diversify.
2. TheNerd: What is eComStation and how does it relate to OS/2?
Joachim: eComStation is an OEM distribution of OS/2. As such, it is basically OS/2 with patches applied and all sorts of enhancements to make it run on current hardware. The main reason for this product is to support people (and companies) that need or want to run OS/2 on non-ancient computers.
3. TheNerd: How does Mensys fit in with Serenity Systems and eComStation?
Joachim: Mensys got in touch with Serenity Systems as soon as they (SSI) got the IBM OEM contract for OS/2. We were actively involved with OS/2 so we knew what was going on in the ‘OS/2 world’. eComStation is the name that was given to the OEM version of OS/2, as part of the deal with IBM was that the product was not allowed to be called “OS/2″.
4. TheNerd: When do you anticipate that eCS 2.0 will go GA?
Joachim: We have worked really hard to fix the last bugs and were able to release eComStation 2.0 RC6 at Warpstock Europe 2008. After RC6 there will be a final RC7. which needs to get some wide testing, and we anticipate that the GA version should be ready early next year. Of course, we are aware that this is really late – but I once read that serious delays make you a ‘big developer’ 
*
* With Android’s delay, Google is officially a big software developer
5. TheNerd: How many developers actively work on eCS and what are they currently working on?
Joachim: We have several developers working on various parts of the operating system, like ACPI and other important low-level drivers, we co-fund the development of UniAud (audio subsystem), a lot of volunteers work on translating and maintaining the NLV (national language versions) of eComStation up to date. The official development team consists of 74 people at this moment, however not all of them are equally active of course. (http://ewiki.ecomstation.nl/eDG)
6. TheNerd: Will there be following versions of eCS shortly after 2.0 is released? i.e. 2.01, 2.02, 2.03 etc…
Joachim: No doubt there will be updates required to the 2.0 GA version and it makes sense to release these as new versions, when enough of them have been collected. Our primary concern is getting the localized versions released when eComStation 2.0 English is ready though.
7. TheNerd: Who do you see as the main customers using eCS these days?
Joachim: We see an increase in the amount of corporate users, as it seems more and more clear that eComStation is the only viable way to obtain an OS/2 license. These customers are rather happy with the ability to install on modern machines and are returning for more licenses. We also offer quite extensive support for some custom requirements to these larger accounts. Despite this, the largest group of customers is still formed by the endusers and computer-enthousiasts.
8. TheNerd: In your opinion, what do you see as the benefits and short falls of eComStation in today’s market that is flooded with Windows and Linux?
Joachim: There’s a couple of main benefits in my view:
- Once used to the WPS and it’s merits, you will find it hard to find a similar way of working on any other desktop system.
- The lack of viri and other malware makes it good for surfing and emailing, with the latest versions of Firefox and Thunderbird readily available, although the lack of an up to date Flash player can be a problem at certain websites. Luckily the latter may change soon…
- eComStation provides excellent backward compatibility to OS/2 and as such supports old and even very old OS/2 applications, for corporate users this can be very important.
- performance: eComStation is really performing well on relatively modest hardware.
The short falls in my opinion are:
- lack of new ‘native’ applications, although there is a lot of applications that can be (and are) ported from Linux. Paul Smedley is doing an excellent job of keeping some important applications current, like the Apache webserver, MySQL database and other mainstream applications. Have a look here for a complete list.
- there is currently no multiuser capability for the desktop. Third party applications are available to enable this though.
- no support for Windows applications like MS Office, but OpenOffice.org is available even in the current release to provide at least some document compatibility.
- eComStation really isn’t meant for multimedia applications, although it can play DVD movies and MP3 music.
9. TheNerd: In the future will eCS development remain partially focused on the end user market or will it be focused more and more on the enterprise/corporate markets?
Joachim: This will probably always be a mixture between demand from corporate users and wishes from the enduser market.
10. TheNerd: What do you envision as the future of eComStation?
Joachim: I think eComStation will keep serving a certain niche-market for corporate users and it will remain a viable platform for many users who want a computer to simply work. We keep working on improving the browsing experience and to remain a useful platform for doing every day work.
11. TheNerd: Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Joachim: We are very grateful for the patience of everyone while we’re working on the last issues of eComStation 2.0. Of course, we want to thank all volunteers who keep helping to make this product possible in the first place!
Thanks very much to Joachim for is time spent answering my questions. And for journalistic integrity I do run a small business that is a Mensys reseller and I have been selling eComStation related software for the past 2 and a half years.
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Comments
Forgot to add – for those of us who can’t make it to the USA or Europe for Warpstock events – it’d be nice to include a photo of the interviewee – would make it more personal for us to put a face to the name one corresponds with.
Mike
Mike, Joachim is talking about “multiuser capability for the desktop”. Those CONFIG.SYS statements enable multi-user capabilities, but not multiple per-user desktops AFAIK.
Bye
Cris
Enjoyed the article. Have no experience w/ ecomstation, but like OS/2.
Many thanks to those, both paid and volunteer who keep the banner of excellence flying.
regards, malcolm
In addition to the lack of a current FLASH, I would add a similar requirement for a current Acrobat Reader. Yes, I know about Lucide. I just happen to believe that Lucide is still far behind in its user interface. The most glaring feature lacking [at least for the way I use PDFs] is that Lucide can only accommodate a single document in the active window. I almost always have at least three or four PDFs open simultaneously; switching among the various documents. I do not want to deal with multiple open objects on the desktop; and I’m not even sure this is possible.
That said, I do appreciate the work done by Mensys and all of their associates. I’ve been an OS/2-eCS user since the very early days. The prospect of having to move to a different platform is not very pleasant. I am eagerly waiting for the 2.0 GA.
Thanks, again, to all!
Carl
Great interview! A few things missing in Ecomstation which I hope will eventually be available are
(1) latest version of JAVA
(2) latest version of XFree86.
If we can’t have (1) and (2), we really need an updated version of VBOX/2 which is stuck at 1.6 while the latest version is already at 2.0.
cytan
I second those comments about required software, but would suggest that Java 1.6 is absolutely essential. I have used OS/2 since version 2.0 went beta, then eComstation, but have been a reluctant user of Windows XP since hardware compatibility forced me off eCS. Since then, I have started developing in Java, as have many other people & companies.
I also am not too impressed with Lucide as a replacement for Adobe Reader. What it does, it does very well, and also very *fast* which is something that can’t be said for the official Acrobat Reader package. They just seem to get slower and slower and slower.
Very frustrating indeed to this enduser!
Since Mensys has had success getting Macromedia to allow for an official Flash port they should keep pushing the envelope and try to get other needed software programs ported/whatever.
One IMHO that would solve the Acrobat/Lucide problem is a little known program called “Foxit – The PDF reader” from a company named “Foxit Software”. The PDF reader is up to version 3 and has a very nice and elegant interface. It loads incredibly fast, reads every PDF file I’ve tossed at it, including all later versions of PDF which is crucial.
Goto http://www.foxitsoftware.com and check it out – For $39 it is a real bargain.
Lastly, and most importantly, they are trying to grow and push the industry away from simply relying on the official Adobe Reader releases. With that in mind I have to wonder if they’d be receptive to allowing a native port or an Odin-ized port for eCS.
chekmarx
Very good article, as one mentioned earlier. There should be more articles similar to this one in order give more exposure to eCS and OS/2.
eCS should also be looking at putting the operating system in the rapidly expanding mobile space on one or two “smartphones” as an experiment. It may not garnish a whole lot of attention, but it will open the eyes of others about the operating system’s capability, and possibly even expand. The requisite for the experiment is to get eCS feature rich in the multimedia category. I think it can be done.
My last comment is that I only wish someone could donate millions to the OS/2 community to give it a boost.
The essential Detail that this Interview is not indicating is, that Serenity System and Mensys have no access to the OS/2 Source-Code. They can only modify the surface and the drivers. That´s why eComStation will go nowhere in the future.
Currently it is the only option for old school OS/2 users and zelots who can not or will not switch to an alternativ operating system. It is definitly not a Platform somebody should switch to.
Hi,
in reply to “OS2 user”:
True, there is no access to the OS/2 source code. But that affects the kernel “only”, as everything else can be replaced: Basically, one can replace the entire multimedia subsystem, the WPS, perhaps even the graphics, printing and networking subsystem if you want. Unfortunately, there is not enough resources to do all this (even if someone would donate zillions of bucks to the developers community).
-cough- On a side-note: There are actually ways to modify the kernel to a certain extent… without it, there would have been no ACPI/SMP/multicore things ever, but ehhh… there is no “official” kernel source code… -cough-
While I can share some of your concerns regarding eCS’ future, I however strongly disagree that it’s NOT a platform one should switch to. In my mind, it’s a platform worth CHECKING if it is suiteale for switching to. And that’s why we desparately need a stable 2.0 GA, because it will be the base for the next-generation up to date DEMO CD! This is the only way to attract more people (and keeping the whole thing alive). The bootable eCS 2.0 GA demo CD will enable everyone to test-drive eCS without the risk of killing his existing system/setup/data.
Mensys, netlabs and eCoSoft are doing an astonishingly 
good job and keep making progress, also due to the relentless support of a lot of individual, independent developers in addition. I was personally surprised of how they handled a bug report regarding ACPI trouble on a new system of mine… and that I was able to get a 100% successful fix and resolution approx. 1 week later! I wonder how alternate platforms compete in that regard…
Cheers,
Thomas
I am far from being an OS/2 expert, but I’ve been using it for 15 years or so and would still rather use it than anything else. As far as I’m concerned, the inability to modify the kernel is totally irrelevant, since there is nothing wrong with it and no good reason to mess with it anyway. I would rather have an operating system using a 20 year old kernel, that still works, runs both new software AND old software, does everything I need it to, does it reliably, and doesn’t require me to buy new hardware every 20 minutes whenever some idiot in Redmond WA decides to add some stupid new gizmo that nobody wanted.
Considering that 74 people are keeping this up to date with little or no cooperation from hardware manufacturers, I would say it’s a pretty great system and those guys are doing a dang good job!
Surprised to hear Joachim say there is no multi-user capability apart from third-party applications!
What about the following included in config.sys at installation time after selecting it as an optional extra?
BASEDEV=SSES.SYS /SUANYUSER /ALLOWEFFECTIVE /Q
RUN=J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\bin\ssesctl.exe –source J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\etc\passwd?J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\etc\acls –logfile J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\log\ssesctl.log
REM *Use it for single PM local Logon* PROTSHELL=J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\bin\shpm.exe
REM *Use it for VIO local Logon* PROTSHELL=J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\bin\shvio.exe
REM *Use it for multiple PM local Logon* PROTSHELL=J:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
REM *Use it for multiple PM local Logon* SET RUNWORKPLACE=J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\bin\shpm2.exe -l J:\ECS\SYSTEM\SESS\log\shpm2.log
Mike