Operating Systems > Not Quite Mainstream OSes
Another ASM written OS
choasforages:
the underlying core of osx is highly portable.
that aside, depending on the skill of the programer, asm can be insanly fast./*most likely the programer is already insane, but hey, raw logic ability has its prices, well worth them.....*/
hell, i barely know C++./*never had time to sit down and master it*/
KernelPanic:
I think writing a complete multi-function, multi-tasking, networking OS in ASM is a very bad idea. ASM is very good for a small OS like SOL or an embedded OS where hardware is not likely to change or a BIOS or boot loader.
But as the program evolves ASM becomes difficult to maintain, loses its speed edge, has awful portablity and will be crippled by any fundemental hardware change.
The stage to which C/C++ compilers has evolved these days means that you can get some very fast compiled code.
Obviously not as fast as ASM but well written C code compiled on a decent compiler can be shit hot.
The point at the end of the day is that in different scenarios the merits of using ASM, C or C++ or whatever tickles your fancy need to be looked at. The best option for a very functional kernel/application tends to be a srategic combination of all three.
Anyway guys, don't start a programming language flame war, because there are different languages for a reason - to be used for different things. Also, it's just wearing.
ravuya:
Not trying to start a flame war here, but I'd never write an OS in ASM... Apple did that with their first few versions of Mac OS, and when they moved to a different processor line, large sections of the OS ended up being emulated and really killed the speed.
Now almost the entire thing is done in a C derirative.
It is pretty cool that you wrote an OS in ASM, however. Probably make a really neat operating system for a portable machine with little or no memory (i.e. Gameboy or something).
Calum:
quote:Originally posted by Hawkuletz:
Just one more thing, please:
An open source operating system, being written in asm does not stop one from writing a (say) C/C++/other compiler for it (should one need sucha thing). I personally program in win32 asm, meaning I write windows programs in ASM. I find it easier than using their vc++ or anything like it. Most of this b/c of the assembler and the possibility to call system APIs or functions, I agree that in the early days ASM programming when one was expected to know all the register parameters of the interrupt services (since all BIOS and OS functions were called that way) was a lot harder. But things have evolved since, and ASM is just a bridge between HLLs and the REAL MACHINE :D
Anyways, there are people who would love having transparent windows, buttons and menus in a program just under 100kb of SIZE (loader included ) and make an embeded application on it or perhaps write more software for it until it will eventually grow into a complete OS ;)
--- End quote ---
how portable is this OS?
one other thing, please do not treat this forum as a war. your second post really made this thread look like an argument very early on. many people here are doubtless interested in this sort of thing (especially if it is open source) but they will not stay interested if the discussion always falls to the level of petty bickering (and that goes for the rest of you too! ;) )
edit:
you know what? this looks like a nice OS if it could have any apps!
it's miniscule, it actually has a GUI at that size, i don't see anything wrong with it. the licence is more or less a cross between the GPL and the public domain licences of BSD and Minix, the only thing it needs now is apps.
Do you think this OS would be something i could learn something from? also where would i get some programs to run on this OS? also, do these programs need to be written for this OS, or can they be any ASM programs?
I am actually quite interested in this little project.
edit: i didn't realise it could run under vmware, i hope this project gets a bit of momentum since i would like to see it get hard drive support et cetera. still, i am concerned that if it gets big, it might get really crufty and hard to keep internally tidy, no?
also, what can this damn thing do? i can't find out how to do anything other than open empty windows! does it have utilities? an ability to load things off the floppy et c? does it even have a filesystem? can it access dos formatted floppies? et cetera...
[ May 13, 2003: Message edited by: Calum: hopelessly outnumbered ]
Doogee:
Try writing an OS in binary, so easy to understand.
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