With QNX you get a RTOS. You get a higher level of reliability, dependability than with multitasking. You don't get that sort of reliability with some pre-packaged Linux distribution. You need to do some nontrivial kernel hacking to make Linux into a RTOS.

Why did Blackberry buy QNX?

I've got nothing against QNX, but I don't think RTOS is what a "modern linux desktop" is about.

Smalltalkers will tell you that Squeak is a very complete and cohesive environment. Also if you look at the demo scene thinking of 200MB is "obscene".

> the demo scene

Is divorced from any kind of practical reality, by definition.

Cease comparing apples to oranges. A sedan is bigger than a go-kart because a sedan isn't a go-kart.

I have never understood this type of backlash. I see it so often when discussing systems of reduced size (and sometimes reduced functionality). What is so offensive to you about small things? That you feel the need to make a comment like this? I don't get it.

If you want to use an OS that requires 7GB to install, you can. We won't hold it against you. And you can wax poetic about it.

But why is it that when someone wants to use a small system it causes people to make these sort of backlash comments?

The ironic thing here, with this example, is that demo scene actually accomplishes feats I have never seen done on larger systems. To use your analogy, the go-kart is able to do things, impressive things, the sedan doesn't do. Surely the sedan could, but it doesn't.

Why it is divorced? The demoscene is related to games who have more constraints (performance, assets compression) than a OS distribution. Also the QNX demo shows a real operating system in a mush reduced scale.