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>A new non-linux, non-unix based operating system with a 3D HMD and VR glove interface.. like a "deck" from a cyberpunk novel/movie.. Maybe write the whole OS i

by scott_w 14y ago

>A new non-linux, non-unix based operating system with a 3D HMD and VR glove interface.. like a "deck" from a cyberpunk novel/movie.. Maybe write the whole OS in CoffeeScript or something (slightly modified to allow for types or pointers to be inserted where necessary) . Find the specs and linux code for interfacing with SATA and ATI/Nvidia and start with that. I want to boot up to a wizard's tower or whatever 3D scene I specify, rather than a flat desktop. I'm curious as to why it has to be "non-linux, non-unix". Going with that would leave you rewriting large portions of code for little gain. If you're concerned about licensing, then BSD would be a good start. However, even using Linux, you'd only really have to release the hardware drivers. You can build your own GUI on top of Linux and not be bound by the GPL.

ilaksh 14y ago
You could build your own GUI on top of Linux.. really doesn't have to be so from-scratch, and I am also interested in pursuing that idea if I ever have the time or resources, but doing everything sort of from scratch is just a more seductive fantasy for me I guess, because it would be fun to see how much I could optimize things and fun to get down to the lowest level. The other reason is just to get rid of the legacy complexity.. true that a lot of stuff that is in Unix you really do have to have for an operating system, but there are also a number of different varying approaches to problems that have been duplicated over the years so that there is extra complexity that really isn't necessary. Also doing things from scratch would allow me to take exactly the approach that I wanted to every major decision, which in some cases really might be better served by taking a different approach from linux. Also I could just say "well, not going to support any of this other Linux stuff, you have to use a remote desktop for that" which would eliminate a huge amount of code. There is actually some stuff for Compiz loading models in the middle of the cube, I could just start messing with that, would be the most straightforward.

by scott_w 14y ago

ilaksh 14y ago

You could build your own GUI on top of Linux.. really doesn't have to be so from-scratch, and I am also interested in pursuing that idea if I ever have the time or resources, but doing everything sort of from scratch is just a more seductive fantasy for me I guess, because it would be fun to see how much I could optimize things and fun to get down to the lowest level. The other reason is just to get rid of the legacy complexity.. true that a lot of stuff that is in Unix you really do have to have for an operating system, but there are also a number of different varying approaches to problems that have been duplicated over the years so that there is extra complexity that really isn't necessary. Also doing things from scratch would allow me to take exactly the approach that I wanted to every major decision, which in some cases really might be better served by taking a different approach from linux. Also I could just say "well, not going to support any of this other Linux stuff, you have to use a remote desktop for that" which would eliminate a huge amount of code. There is actually some stuff for Compiz loading models in the middle of the cube, I could just start messing with that, would be the most straightforward.