8 ms·

The AdaOS Operating System (2000)

87 points by unilynx 7y ago

peter_d_sherman 7y ago
https://sourceforge.net/projects/adaos/files/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/adaos/files/
- vips7L 7y ago
  Why is sourceforge's ui so bad? Why not display the files instead of expecting me to download some random zip file?
  - tornato7 7y ago
    Sourceforge isn't a reputable website anymore. They have been known for bundling spyware/crapware with their installers of open source software.
    - dwheeler 7y ago
      That certainly happened, but as far as I can tell they stopped that years ago. It hurt their reputation immensely, though.
    - Twirrim 7y ago
      That was under previous owners. They've since been bought out by a company that actually gives a damn. Unfortunately there's a good argument for too little, too late. The damage to the brand's reputation is immense.
      - inferiorhuman 7y ago
        SF still has tons of ads and other really obnoxious UI choices. Take for example: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pkgconfiglite/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/pkgconfiglite/ There's so much crap on that page I couldn't even begin to care about. On the top half of the page: downloads this week, share this, open source software, business software, services, resources, sourceforge's twitter account, sourceforge's facebook account, sourceforge's linkedin, sourceforge newsletters, and of course a gigantic sourceforge banner. If you go further: user reviews, recommended projects, top searches, other useful business software, similar business software, more twitter links unrelated to the project, related business categories. SourceForge is a freaking dumpster fire even if they're no longer bundling malware.
  - vwuon 7y ago
    That's what the owner of the project uploaded. Sourceforge allows you to host repositories like github/etc, but the repo of this project is empty: https://sourceforge.net/p/adaos/code/ref/master/ https://sourceforge.net/p/adaos/code/ref/master/
- tedunangst 7y ago
  136.4KB is quite the tiny OS.
sqldba 7y ago
Is Ada still around?
- coldtea 7y ago
  It never went anywhere, still used for what it was used...
  - galangalalgol 7y ago
    A lot of flight and safety critical software has gone c++ at least in the US. Do178b approved g++ clones started popping up about 25 years ago and have made dramatic inroads.
    - knome 7y ago
      >g++ clones What does this mean? Something like certified forks of g++?
      - galangalalgol 7y ago
        There have been those. Also there have been closed source compilers with identical switches. I have always suspected copyright violations because the scope of writing a c++ compiler but who knows.
  - kpU8efre7r 7y ago
    What? I just left a job in defense software that used Ada and it was a fairly new program.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      So we agree. It never went anywhere => ie. it never left. Still used for what it was used => ie. the same kind of software (defense, etc).
      - 7y ago
thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
The biggest issue with all of these "write a new operating system in my favorite language X" (where X is Ada, C, C++, D, Rust, etc) is that in almost all cases the operating system design slowly morphs into a buggy, half-baked version of an existing operating system. Rarely are there compelling new designs that are sufficiently better than what currently exists or was previously created in a different programming language. While a different programming language can enable different levels of expressiveness, elegance, or nuance of control when interacting with hardware, ultimately it is the higher-level design concepts and design maturity that come into focus over time. (Does the design work in the real world? Is it "battle tested" and can address / overcome various failure modes?) These forces have shaped the operating systems that we have today into what they are through years of heat and pressure. If you are contemplating writing a new operating system in your favorite language X, take a few years to study and understand how current operating systems solve real world problems and ask yourself how your ideas / designs will be as good as or better than what currently exists.
- dapids 7y ago
  I think you are missing the point of what Ada can accomplish in contrast to other languages in terms of memory safety and criticality. I personally think AdaOS is very compelling if you want a unique perspective on memory safety at such a large scale. It's much more than a "favorite" language and certainly not even in the same realm of application as a language such as C. Misra C in contrast to Ada, now that's a comparison. Not D, C++, etc.
  - thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
    I use Ada professionally and enjoy how expressive and powerful the language is in cleanly representing modular design and preventing errors. This is especially true with all of the features that came with Ada 2005 and Ada 2012. I have no doubts about Ada or SPARK. I am questioning what is needed to make a new operating system design viable other than "it's written in Ada". What is needed to make an operating system that can be as good as or better than the POSIX-based operating systems that dominate computing.
- 7y ago
goofballlogic 7y ago
Does anyone know if the author completed other projects in Ada (or another language)? I'd be interested in reading some code as well as the specs.
ajxs 7y ago
I was just looking at this recently, funnily enough, while looking for other examples of x86 Operating-System development in Ada. Here are a few other examples of Operating-System development in Ada, in various levels of completion. - https://github.com/ajxs/cxos https://github.com/ajxs/cxos - https://github.com/Lucretia/bare_bones https://github.com/Lucretia/bare_bones - https://marte.unican.es/todo.htm https://marte.unican.es/todo.htm - https://sourceforge.net/projects/lovelaceos/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/lovelaceos/ - https://sourceforge.net/projects/sx-ada-kalinda/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/sx-ada-kalinda/
- johnisgood 7y ago
  Do not forget AuroraUX. Back when it was based on OpenSolaris: https://web.archive.org/web/20090314042407/http://auroraux.blastwave.org/index.php/Main_Page https://web.archive.org/web/20090314042407/http://auroraux.b... (Main Page) https://web.archive.org/web/20090415214139/http://auroraux.blastwave.org/index.php/AuroraUX:About https://web.archive.org/web/20090415214139/http://auroraux.b... (About) Then DragonFlyBSD: https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Main_Page https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.aurora... (Main Page) https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Main_Page#Why_Ada.3F https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.aurora... (Why Ada?) https://web.archive.org/web/20110904173302/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/System_Overview https://web.archive.org/web/20110904173302/http://www.aurora... (System Overview) https://web.archive.org/web/20110904171806/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Project_Goals https://web.archive.org/web/20110904171806/http://www.aurora... (Project Goals) https://web.archive.org/web/20091127065848/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Hydra_Package_Manager https://web.archive.org/web/20091127065848/http://www.aurora... (Hydra Package Manager)
  - ajxs 7y ago
    Thanks so much for the link! I'm having a little trouble finding the source on those pages. Is there a link to it that's still active?
    - 7y ago
m3kw9 7y ago
I was hoping they’d call it AdiOS.
DonHopkins 7y ago
The Symbolics Lisp Machine could run Ada, of course. And then there was the Rational/R1000s400, the first only and last "Ada-only" Computer. http://datamuseum.dk/wiki/Rational/R1000s400 http://datamuseum.dk/wiki/Rational/R1000s400 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_R1000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_R1000 The R1000 was a workstation released in 1985 by Rational Software for the design, documentation, implementation, and maintenance of large software systems written using the Ada programming language. The R1000 featured an extensive tool set, including: - an Ada-83-compatible program design language - an integrated development environment that doubled as an operating system shell - automatic generation of design documentation - source-language debugging - interactive design-rule checking and semantic analysis - incremental compilation - configuration management and version control. Excerpts from Articles Filed Under: Rational 1000 http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/category/rat1000/ http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/category/rat1000/ Rational 1000: A Time-Travelling Debugger with No Future http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/2006/03/25/rational-1000-a-time-travelling-debugger-with-no-future/ http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/2006/03/25/rational-...
jecel 7y ago
Any list of operating systems written in Ada should include Intel's first 32 bit OS iMAX: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~Brecht/courses/702/Possible-Readings/oses/imax-multiprocessor-os-sosp-1981.pdf https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~Brecht/courses/702/Possible-Reading...

87 points by unilynx 7y ago

peter_d_sherman 7y ago

https://sourceforge.net/projects/adaos/files/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/adaos/files/

vips7L 7y ago
Why is sourceforge's ui so bad? Why not display the files instead of expecting me to download some random zip file?
- tornato7 7y ago
  Sourceforge isn't a reputable website anymore. They have been known for bundling spyware/crapware with their installers of open source software.
  - dwheeler 7y ago
    That certainly happened, but as far as I can tell they stopped that years ago. It hurt their reputation immensely, though.
  - Twirrim 7y ago
    That was under previous owners. They've since been bought out by a company that actually gives a damn. Unfortunately there's a good argument for too little, too late. The damage to the brand's reputation is immense.
    - inferiorhuman 7y ago
      SF still has tons of ads and other really obnoxious UI choices. Take for example: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pkgconfiglite/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/pkgconfiglite/ There's so much crap on that page I couldn't even begin to care about. On the top half of the page: downloads this week, share this, open source software, business software, services, resources, sourceforge's twitter account, sourceforge's facebook account, sourceforge's linkedin, sourceforge newsletters, and of course a gigantic sourceforge banner. If you go further: user reviews, recommended projects, top searches, other useful business software, similar business software, more twitter links unrelated to the project, related business categories. SourceForge is a freaking dumpster fire even if they're no longer bundling malware.
- vwuon 7y ago
  That's what the owner of the project uploaded. Sourceforge allows you to host repositories like github/etc, but the repo of this project is empty: https://sourceforge.net/p/adaos/code/ref/master/ https://sourceforge.net/p/adaos/code/ref/master/
tedunangst 7y ago
136.4KB is quite the tiny OS.

sqldba 7y ago

Is Ada still around?

coldtea 7y ago
It never went anywhere, still used for what it was used...
- galangalalgol 7y ago
  A lot of flight and safety critical software has gone c++ at least in the US. Do178b approved g++ clones started popping up about 25 years ago and have made dramatic inroads.
  - knome 7y ago
    >g++ clones What does this mean? Something like certified forks of g++?
    - galangalalgol 7y ago
      There have been those. Also there have been closed source compilers with identical switches. I have always suspected copyright violations because the scope of writing a c++ compiler but who knows.
- kpU8efre7r 7y ago
  What? I just left a job in defense software that used Ada and it was a fairly new program.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    So we agree. It never went anywhere => ie. it never left. Still used for what it was used => ie. the same kind of software (defense, etc).
    - 7y ago

thesuperbigfrog 7y ago

The biggest issue with all of these "write a new operating system in my favorite language X" (where X is Ada, C, C++, D, Rust, etc) is that in almost all cases the operating system design slowly morphs into a buggy, half-baked version of an existing operating system. Rarely are there compelling new designs that are sufficiently better than what currently exists or was previously created in a different programming language. While a different programming language can enable different levels of expressiveness, elegance, or nuance of control when interacting with hardware, ultimately it is the higher-level design concepts and design maturity that come into focus over time. (Does the design work in the real world? Is it "battle tested" and can address / overcome various failure modes?) These forces have shaped the operating systems that we have today into what they are through years of heat and pressure. If you are contemplating writing a new operating system in your favorite language X, take a few years to study and understand how current operating systems solve real world problems and ask yourself how your ideas / designs will be as good as or better than what currently exists.

dapids 7y ago
I think you are missing the point of what Ada can accomplish in contrast to other languages in terms of memory safety and criticality. I personally think AdaOS is very compelling if you want a unique perspective on memory safety at such a large scale. It's much more than a "favorite" language and certainly not even in the same realm of application as a language such as C. Misra C in contrast to Ada, now that's a comparison. Not D, C++, etc.
- thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
  I use Ada professionally and enjoy how expressive and powerful the language is in cleanly representing modular design and preventing errors. This is especially true with all of the features that came with Ada 2005 and Ada 2012. I have no doubts about Ada or SPARK. I am questioning what is needed to make a new operating system design viable other than "it's written in Ada". What is needed to make an operating system that can be as good as or better than the POSIX-based operating systems that dominate computing.
7y ago

goofballlogic 7y ago

Does anyone know if the author completed other projects in Ada (or another language)? I'd be interested in reading some code as well as the specs.

ajxs 7y ago

I was just looking at this recently, funnily enough, while looking for other examples of x86 Operating-System development in Ada. Here are a few other examples of Operating-System development in Ada, in various levels of completion. - https://github.com/ajxs/cxos https://github.com/ajxs/cxos - https://github.com/Lucretia/bare_bones https://github.com/Lucretia/bare_bones - https://marte.unican.es/todo.htm https://marte.unican.es/todo.htm - https://sourceforge.net/projects/lovelaceos/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/lovelaceos/ - https://sourceforge.net/projects/sx-ada-kalinda/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/sx-ada-kalinda/

johnisgood 7y ago
Do not forget AuroraUX. Back when it was based on OpenSolaris: https://web.archive.org/web/20090314042407/http://auroraux.blastwave.org/index.php/Main_Page https://web.archive.org/web/20090314042407/http://auroraux.b... (Main Page) https://web.archive.org/web/20090415214139/http://auroraux.blastwave.org/index.php/AuroraUX:About https://web.archive.org/web/20090415214139/http://auroraux.b... (About) Then DragonFlyBSD: https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Main_Page https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.aurora... (Main Page) https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Main_Page#Why_Ada.3F https://web.archive.org/web/20110824053558/http://www.aurora... (Why Ada?) https://web.archive.org/web/20110904173302/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/System_Overview https://web.archive.org/web/20110904173302/http://www.aurora... (System Overview) https://web.archive.org/web/20110904171806/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Project_Goals https://web.archive.org/web/20110904171806/http://www.aurora... (Project Goals) https://web.archive.org/web/20091127065848/http://www.auroraux.org/index.php/Hydra_Package_Manager https://web.archive.org/web/20091127065848/http://www.aurora... (Hydra Package Manager)
- ajxs 7y ago
  Thanks so much for the link! I'm having a little trouble finding the source on those pages. Is there a link to it that's still active?
  - 7y ago

m3kw9 7y ago

I was hoping they’d call it AdiOS.

DonHopkins 7y ago

The Symbolics Lisp Machine could run Ada, of course. And then there was the Rational/R1000s400, the first only and last "Ada-only" Computer. http://datamuseum.dk/wiki/Rational/R1000s400 http://datamuseum.dk/wiki/Rational/R1000s400 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_R1000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_R1000 The R1000 was a workstation released in 1985 by Rational Software for the design, documentation, implementation, and maintenance of large software systems written using the Ada programming language. The R1000 featured an extensive tool set, including: - an Ada-83-compatible program design language - an integrated development environment that doubled as an operating system shell - automatic generation of design documentation - source-language debugging - interactive design-rule checking and semantic analysis - incremental compilation - configuration management and version control. Excerpts from Articles Filed Under: Rational 1000 http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/category/rat1000/ http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/category/rat1000/ Rational 1000: A Time-Travelling Debugger with No Future http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/2006/03/25/rational-1000-a-time-travelling-debugger-with-no-future/ http://www.somethinkodd.com/oddthinking/2006/03/25/rational-...

jecel 7y ago

Any list of operating systems written in Ada should include Intel's first 32 bit OS iMAX: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~Brecht/courses/702/Possible-Readings/oses/imax-multiprocessor-os-sosp-1981.pdf https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~Brecht/courses/702/Possible-Reading...