Programming a 64-bit Operating System
Linked by Amjith Ramanujam on Sat 14th Feb 2009 02:00 UTC
OSNews, Generic OSes IanOS is an experimental 64-bit operating system written from scratch as a learning experience. The source code is available online and the creator of the OS has made some detailed documentation available to go with the source code. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to venture into writing a 64-bit OS. The author makes his intention about this OS clear "I never had any intention of producing a true OS. There are plenty of those about and it would be a very foolish, or vain, person who thought that they could compete with the likes of FreeBSD and Linux. But my interest in computers isn't practical; I just find programming them, particularly at this level, to be a supremely satisfying intellectual pursuit".
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RE: Too much editorializing ...
by TemporalBeing on Mon 16th Feb 2009 18:44 UTC in reply to "Too much editorializing ..."
TemporalBeing Member since:
2007-08-22

I wouldn't say utter nonsense. Take a look at the kernel tarballs themselves - yes, there's some documentation there, but not a whole lot - especially early on in the boot process. And most of the books on the Linux kernel skim over the boot process fairly quickly giving little detail or insight into any of it.

I've tried that route. It doesn't work too well.

So while I haven't looked that the source for IanOS yet, I'll probably do so in the next week or so and if it delivers what the summary says, it'll be an invaluable resource to add to my collection.

Reply Score: 1

RE[2]: Too much editorializing ...
by ianjack on Mon 16th Feb 2009 19:35 UTC in reply to "RE: Too much editorializing ..."
ianjack Member since:
2009-02-14

The source code for Linux is obviously very complete, working code (as is the source for FreeBSD, or Darwin). But the problem is it's very complicated and not really easy to understand; it does too much for educational purposes. There are several excellent books covering the design of these OSes, and I provide references to some of them on my web site, but they are hard reading.

I just wanted to be able to get the processor into 64-bit mode, set up Page Tables, Interrupt and Segment Descriptors, and then take it from there. I found it very difficult to find examples of how to do this (although there are plenty for 32-bit code), which is why I thought I'd share what I had learnt. Having got there I have taken it a little further, and will probably continue to do so. But it's just for fun; it's never going to be a serious OS.

Reply Score: 1

TemporalBeing Member since:
2007-08-22

But it's just for fun; it's never going to be a serious OS.


Isn't that what Linus said about Linux?

Any how...thanks for the great work!

Reply Score: 1

Thanks
by ianjack on Sat 14th Feb 2009 09:59 UTC
ianjack
Member since:
2009-02-14

Thanks for your kind words Amjith. I wondered why my web site had suddenly received so many hits! I haven't updated the site for a while, although I have been doing further work on the project. This will be a spur for me to do so.

Forgive the minimalist style of my web site, but I'm on a limited-bandwidth free package, so thought it best to avoid all the bloat that you normally get.

Apologies to anyone who might have tried to contact me via the e-mail address on my site. There seems to be a slight problem with it at present. I'm looking into it now, so if any e-mails to me have bounced do try again in a little while.

Ian

Reply Score: 4

RE: Thanks
by KrustyVader on Sat 14th Feb 2009 13:04 UTC in reply to "Thanks"
KrustyVader Member since:
2006-10-28

I love minimalist styled web pages. Most of the modern pages have a lot of crap and little content.

Reply Score: 3

RE: Thanks
by RubasznyRumcajs on Sat 14th Feb 2009 15:04 UTC in reply to "Thanks"
RubasznyRumcajs Member since:
2008-12-08

please, don't misunderstand me- but why did you started this project? Minix 1 and 2 were created for it.
regards
sz

Reply Score: 1

RE[2]: Thanks
by ianjack on Sat 14th Feb 2009 15:26 UTC in reply to "RE: Thanks"
ianjack Member since:
2009-02-14

64-bit! Just wanted to play about with 64-bit processors and low-level programming of them. Minix (is now up to 3) is exclusively 32-bit, I believe. When I started I couldn't find many resources detailing the process of booting into 64-bit mode, hence I thought others might find this of interest. That's all.

Ian

Reply Score: 1

RE: Thanks
by amjith on Sat 14th Feb 2009 17:48 UTC in reply to "Thanks"
amjith Member since:
2005-07-08

I think your minimalistic approach is also the most efficient approach for a learning resource. Great work btw, keep it up. I'll be looking forward to see more updates.

Reply Score: 2

Wisdom
by Anonymous Penguin on Sat 14th Feb 2009 15:55 UTC
Anonymous Penguin
Member since:
2005-07-06

"I never had any intention of producing a true OS. There are plenty of those about and it would be a very foolish, or vain, person who thought that they could compete with the likes of FreeBSD and Linux. But my interest in computers isn't practical; I just find programming them, particularly at this level, to be a supremely satisfying intellectual pursuit".


Very wise words! That is IMO the right frame of mind if you are going to create a new OS on your own nowadays, not "My OS will take over the World".

Reply Score: 3

RE: Wisdom
by christian on Sun 15th Feb 2009 15:28 UTC in reply to "Wisdom"
christian Member since:
2005-07-06

""I never had any intention of producing a true OS. There are plenty of those about and it would be a very foolish, or vain, person who thought that they could compete with the likes of FreeBSD and Linux. But my interest in computers isn't practical; I just find programming them, particularly at this level, to be a supremely satisfying intellectual pursuit".


Very wise words! That is IMO the right frame of mind if you are going to create a new OS on your own nowadays, not "My OS will take over the World". "

But, make sure it is designed in such a way that if it does take over the world, the process is easier ;)


Besides, you don't have to compete with the likes of Linux to be a true OS.

Reply Score: 1

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