Linked by Emmanuel Marty on Thu 2nd Sep 2004 07:36 UTC
As a programmer and manager of embedded software products for a living, I think that operating system programming is so much fun that it will eventually be outlawed. I've previously published two articles on OSNews, So, you want to write
an operating system and Climbing
the kernel mountain, and tried to summarize my experience in designing operating system kernels as well as technical traps that can be easily avoided.
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"Either one of the big three finally gets the act together and produces an OS that's actually easy, fun, and painless to use, or alternative OS projects are here to stay."
I think most alternative projects (smaller than BSD, Linux) are about either trying less common internals like exokernels or just earning bragging rights--among other technical bits--rather than creating a friendly desktop, but I see your point. I also don't agree with it.
If you have an idea that you want to come shipped with the distribution you use (like the friendly desktop you say you want), it's best to contribue to an existing project than start a new one. It's the most practical way of getting it done.
If you have an idea that would require the kind of overhaul that a project doesn't want to go through, fork it.
If what you want is some small research OS to play with different kinds of internals (the kind of thing people don't usually put on their desktop), it might be too small a project to direct anything current to its goals. Just steal as much as you can. Reinvent as little as possible.
If you want something so different that you think you should just start from scratch, really look into an evolutionary approach. If you still decide to go anew, realize you will likely be a martar--your project will die, only to pass on its itch-scratcher in 2-15 years to projects that do take the evolutionary path.