Memory Haiku

I started playing with Haiku (the open-source descendant of BeOS) again this week. Being a systems kind of guy, the first thing I want to do is see if I can rebuild the OS (operating system), in particular, the kernel. If we can do that, and reboot the system using the newly generated kernel, we are pretty much golden. That means you have

• the source code (text files), 
• the tools for turning that source code into binary code 
• that the boot loader can load and 
• that will run once it is loaded.

    If you can do all this, then you can pretty much do anything. You can make any changes you want to any program or the kernel itself and try them out. If they don't work, you can always go back to where you started.
    I did this first part about eight months ago (or was it eighteen months ago?) on my Zbox. It worked and I was happy, but then I got distracked, or depressed or something and I didn't do anymore with it.
    This week I tried it with an old Dell desktop system that younger son had corrupted with Ubuntu (boo! hiss! down with Ubuntu!). I also chose the Dell because I had a regular keyboard and mouse I could use with it. All I had for the Zbox was a compact keyboard with a built in trackball, which works okay in a pinch but it's not something I want to use for massive keyboarding.
    I installed Haiku from a CD (the same one I had used with the Zbox), and I downloaded the source from the web, but it would not generate a new OS. It complained about not being able to find "package", which I think is some kind of new file management system. Complaining about this to the Haiku mailing list got me some prompt responses, but none of them were very helpful.
   So I decided to wait for my USB hub to arrive from Amazon (which would enable me to use a conventional mouse. For some reason the Zbox can't comprehend using more than one USB port for input devices. Or maybe that's just an Ubuntu problem.). Hub arrived, plugged in the mouse and regenerated the OS no problem.
    Next step is try actually running this newly generated kernel. Normal system etiquette requires that you keep one good copy of the kernel on the disk at all times and employ some kind of switch to tell the boot loader to load your new, test version, to see if it works. (Back in the day there used to be actual mechanical switches on the front panel to do this. Now we've got some kind of software to do the job.) If it works, find and dandy. If not, you reset the switch and go back to your original, known, good copy.
    So this morning I am looking around trying to figure out just which steps I need to take in order to test the new kernel. I read and I poke around and I try this that and the other, but I feel like the nerd who has been looked outside of the big party. I can hear all the cool kids having a grand time inside, but I cannot find the key to unlock the door. I've had enough so I decide to bail for the time being and turn the machine off.
   A while later I have some idea I want to check out so I turn the machine back on, and what do I see? A two item menu:

1. Haiku   
2. Haiku 2

It's already been
done! How did I do that? I
don't remember. Arrggghhh!