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From: "Tarjei T. Jensen" <tarjei.jensen@kvaerner.com>
Subject: Re: Project: FreeOS
Date: 2000/01/14
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Date: 2000-01-14T00:00:00+00:00
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Preben Randhol wrote
>Well how do you get the OS to become popular? Remember Linux was
>started in 1991. I'm not so sure a new OS would be able to compete so
>well against Linux. It would have to be able to run Linux apps and use
>device drivers available for Linux. Otherwise not much hardware would
>be supported. My point is that making an OS is a much bigger task than
>making popular applications that people need and will use to do their
>everyday activity. If they then want to change the app, they need to
>learn Ada95 to do so, as the source code would be in Ada95. Thus one
>could attract more people to Ada95.


Linus Torvalds had a big advantage: FSG (GNU) and BSD. A lot of the things that
were neccessary for Linux to succeed were already available in C source form.
FSF has consentrated on providing tools so that there is something to run when
the OS finally become available. Among these are: gcc, awk, perl (not from
FSF), groff, etc.

So the message is: Get some good applications and tools written in Ada before
comitting to an operating system.


Alternative: Create an (real time) operating system (microkernel) for embedded
applications in assembly language (like the L3 and L4 microkernels). Then use
Ada to create services. Initially target should probably be pc/104 or some PC
chipset. Then create tools and systems to go with it (scheduler, tcp/ip stack,
terminal drivers, ethernet driver, printer driver, usb drivers, disk (ide,
scsi) drivers, firewire drivers, graphics subsystem, etc). BTW: VMS is not a
bad operating system to use as a model: It is _very_ modular.

Such a system could become successful. I know that rtems exists, but as far as
I understand that at best only supports Ada. And it seems to be mostly C.

When it is mature one could use it as a general computing platform. Which means
that one must create a Unix like environment for application developers and
users.


Greetings,