[HN Gopher] Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since ...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997
        
       Author : kome
       Score  : 448 points
       Date   : 2025-11-01 22:07 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (visopsys.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (visopsys.org)
        
       | sam0x17 wrote:
       | The most impressive thing is being on 0.9 after nearly 30 years
        
         | grg0 wrote:
         | It's so old, that the 3D icons and window borders will be new
         | again when 1.0 is released. Talk about some long-term vision.
         | 
         | But jokes aside, I always enjoy reading about custom OSes.
        
           | WD-42 wrote:
           | You joke but the first thing I thought when I saw the icons
           | was that they were nice. Flat everything has run its course.
        
         | ndiddy wrote:
         | https://0ver.org/
        
           | 65 wrote:
           | I always found semantic versioning a little too verbose.
           | Particularly when deciding when to release major versions.
           | OSX was on version 10 for many years but of course released a
           | new "major" version every year.
           | 
           | Semantic versioning is just something everyone does in
           | software development, but is is really that necessary?
        
             | rswail wrote:
             | Semantic versioning is for APIs, not for functionality. So
             | it's for developers consuming that API (whether a library,
             | or a service).
             | 
             | For releases in production, use a calendar version.
             | v2025-11-02 is a clear release tag. Add preciseness as
             | required. There should be a SBOM/Manifest (Bill Of
             | Materials) of the versioned major components and
             | configuration for that overall release.
             | 
             | For users, it depends on the type of user and what they
             | expect. Their focus is on functionality. So when there's a
             | new feature, bump the number.
             | 
             | It's a bit like the car model. It can be random extension
             | letters like "-X", or "6Si".
        
               | necovek wrote:
               | Developers are "users" (of a library, API, tool...), and
               | "API functionality" is a subset of "functionality": what
               | purpose would such distinction serve?
               | 
               | For example, in end user desktop software (say a text
               | editor), how would you indicate a security bug fix for an
               | old version v2023-11-02 without forcing users to pay for
               | a new version of v2025-09-15?
               | 
               | Again, versioning is a tool, and depending on the release
               | structure of a project, SemVer might work well or it
               | might not (including for APIs/libraries).
        
               | roryirvine wrote:
               | Oracle used to do that, didn't they?
               | 
               | So, amongst others, they had Oracle 8i at the height of
               | the dot com boom (i for "Internet"), then a few years
               | later when clustering became big news there was Oracle
               | 10g (the g standing for "grid", I think?), and so on.
               | 
               | Actually, it looks like they might still be doing it - I
               | just checked, and their current version is 23ai...
        
             | necovek wrote:
             | Versioning is a tool to communicate changes and backwards
             | compatibility to the users. SemVer makes sense in a lot of
             | cases, but it neither covers everything (eg. compare with
             | Debian/Ubuntu packaging versions), nor is it always needed
             | (think of REST API versions which usually only go with
             | major versions, and commonly multiple major versions from
             | the same codebase).
        
           | GaryBluto wrote:
           | > zerZerover Jesus Christ.
        
       | sen wrote:
       | This is very very cool, and unlike a lot of other "hobby" OSes
       | actually looks usable as a daily driver if your needs are basic
       | (kids, elderly, older/cheaper hardware, etc).
       | 
       | While for nerds computers have become these monstrously powerful
       | things that can do everything under the sun, there's definitely
       | still plenty of people who just want a computer to write down
       | notes, keep a calendar, use the calculator... eg the things home
       | computers were originally made to do.
        
         | voidfunc wrote:
         | What youre describing is called iOS on a large iPad. Everyone
         | from 4 year olds to my 77 year old computer illiterate Dad can
         | figure it out.
         | 
         | This doesn't look very usable at all by someone who isn't
         | basically a computer nerd.
        
           | honeybadger1 wrote:
           | I agree with you. I see this as a passion project, and I
           | think it's really cool.
        
           | Nextgrid wrote:
           | True in theory, but in practice due to our economy being
           | based on growth at all costs, iOS doesn't really fit the bill
           | anymore.
           | 
           | Nowadays even iOS will randomly change its UI and send you
           | "notifications" or "suggestions" (modern euphemism for "ads")
           | to subscribe to Apple TV* or iCloud.
        
             | deaddodo wrote:
             | I was forced to buy a new iPhone recently (my 16 was
             | stolen), and had iOS 26 foisted on me.
             | 
             | My god, is it bad (for me, I'm sure some like it). The ugly
             | glass UX, the weird floating controls, the always on
             | display, blah blah. It's not innovative at all, it's like
             | they just had to redo everything simply to make it seem
             | "new".
        
               | Nextgrid wrote:
               | Always-on display can be disabled but for the rest I
               | agree. It doesn't really do anything more that my 3rd gen
               | SE but is way more annoying to use (bigger size, no
               | fingerprint reader nor home button).
        
             | naikrovek wrote:
             | > Nowadays even iOS will randomly change its UI
             | 
             | You and I have very different ideas of "random" I think.
        
               | bathtub365 wrote:
               | Maybe a better definition is "for seemingly no reason"?
        
               | weikju wrote:
               | "Arbitrary" is the word people often should reach for
               | instead of "random".
        
               | gouggoug wrote:
               | what are you trying to say here?
        
               | BolexNOLA wrote:
               | Why with Tahoe did they get rid of the volume indicator
               | that popped up middle of screen that they've had for 20+
               | years - a critical indicator that the volume controls are
               | even working in the first place - in favor of a tiny set
               | of bars at the top right of my screen in the menu bar
               | where I can barely make them out? It's also less precise
               | about my volume level now. _Why_?
               | 
               | That sure seemed random. It sure isn't functional.
        
               | Razengan wrote:
               | Because before you many users complained "IT TAKES UP THE
               | WHOLE SCREEN!!!!" and it was a bit annoying to be honest
               | when it obscures a video or something else you're trying
               | to view.
        
               | exe34 wrote:
               | what kind of video are you watching where you need to
               | change the volume so often and missing two seconds of
               | part of the video would be such an issue?
        
               | Razengan wrote:
               | Look. I wanted to change the volume. My hand went to the
               | keyboard. I felt the key. I felt the key press down. The
               | volume changed.
               | 
               | That's all the feedback I need! I don't need my vision
               | stuffed with that information.
               | 
               | But yeah, it did look cute and should be an option
               | between "Expressive" or "Minimal" UI.
        
               | BolexNOLA wrote:
               | The issue arises when my output is not what I think it is
               | or the audio is otherwise not being adjusted (happens a
               | lot when your pushing through an HDMI output). It could
               | be going out my speakers, my headphones, or something
               | else entirely. So when I'm pressing the volume up and
               | down trying to see what is going on, I don't want to have
               | to squint at a very tiny set of bars in the top menu bar.
               | That is annoying and far more distracting than an opaque
               | layer that gives me clear information showing up for 2
               | seconds.
               | 
               | At the end of the day I want Apple to adhere to the "it
               | just works" philosophy. That little pop up served as a
               | critical source of information I needed daily that tells
               | me more than just the volume level. It's easy to
               | understand, it's been consistent for I believe two
               | decades, and it provides information to multiple
               | questions instantly. It did not need to be changed and
               | what they changed it to is worse.
        
               | klardotsh wrote:
               | * what they changed it to is worse _for you_
               | 
               | Some of us hated that floating overlay with a passion and
               | wish it only the best riddance on its way out the door.
        
               | BolexNOLA wrote:
               | it's ok to be wrong! (Purely a joke I hope that's clear)
        
               | BolexNOLA wrote:
               | But it doesn't take up the whole screen, it flashes for
               | like 2 seconds, and it has been around so long that it
               | has created a very ingrained user behavior.
               | 
               | I'd be very curious to see how many complaints they've
               | actually gotten about it. This definitely struck me as
               | "random"
        
               | catoc wrote:
               | > "You and I have very different ideas of "random" I
               | think."
               | 
               | Indeed, not 'random'. With respect to iOS26 what word
               | should one use? Premeditated? Deliberate? Maliciously?
        
               | hulitu wrote:
               | > Indeed, not 'random'. With respect to iOS26 what word
               | should one use? Premeditated? Deliberate? Maliciously?
               | 
               | Ejaculated ? Something coming out of a reproductive
               | organ, with no idea of real world consequences.
        
             | vasco wrote:
             | So what is better? I think you're wrong and a tablet with
             | iOS or android is the best form factor for computer
             | illiterate people to get something done. Despite whatever
             | bullshit they added, everything else is worse. But maybe
             | you know of something better?
        
               | ModernMech wrote:
               | All you need to understand this is to watch a chimp
               | browsing Chimstagram on an iPhone:
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTiZqCQsfa8
               | 
               | Forget computer illiterate, not even human let alone
               | literate!
        
               | hulitu wrote:
               | "When something is made idiot proof, they will just make
               | better idiots." S. Hawking.
        
           | Razengan wrote:
           | > _What youre describing is called iOS on a large iPad._
           | 
           | iPad was my gateway drug into Apple when I got it as a gift
           | for my aunt and saw how easy and intuitive it was to use, and
           | also to develop for.
           | 
           | Then after Jobs' whip fell from his cold hands they went into
           | the realm of "mystery meat" menus and arcane gestures where
           | swiping from seemingly every different angle of the screen
           | edge does something different. Swipe from the top-right
           | corner to get the Control Center, but swipe from the center-
           | top to see the Notifications?? Yeah not gonna bother training
           | an elder on that. I can't dare get my mom a modern iPhone now
           | where she has to swipe up to unlock: it has be an iPhone SE,
           | the last iPhones with a Home button.
           | 
           | I am the filthiest of nerds but I still can't get myself to
           | remember how the heck iPad multitasking works. Apparently
           | they can't either, they changed it again in 26 and now I
           | can't easily get Notes etc. by swiping in from the side when
           | watching a video etc. and I haven't bothered to look up how
           | to do that now.
           | 
           | In any case all this only shows that attempting a one-size-
           | fits-all UI can't really go all the way. iPhones/iPad have
           | had a respectable run, they were lucky to have an OS
           | Usability tyrant in charge, but maybe it's time to accept
           | that UIs need an option for Simple vs Expert or something.
        
             | bombcar wrote:
             | They removed the side thing in 26 and are bringing it back
             | in 26.1.
             | 
             | There's a complete lack of project leadership and it's
             | strangely worrying.
        
               | Razengan wrote:
               | > _There's a complete lack of project leadership_
               | 
               | I mean, that's fine, if there is no overarching vision.
               | Just let users CUSTOMIZE the UI the way we want. That's
               | it.
               | 
               | That would actually be easier on the UI designers too.
               | Perhaps just a trifle bit complicated for the coders, but
               | they have *AI* now, right??
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | I fully believe that those inside Apple fighting for
               | customized UI are relegated to hiding them as
               | accessibility options. Apple has never been very fond of
               | customization (one way, Apple's way, or the highway).
        
             | davedx wrote:
             | > the realm of "mystery meat" menus and arcane gestures
             | where swiping from seemingly every different angle of the
             | screen edge does something different. Swipe from the top-
             | right corner to get the Control Center, but swipe from the
             | center-top to see the Notifications?
             | 
             | Ha, I'm a heavy long term iOS and MacOS user, and I _still_
             | haven 't learned what all the swipes and clicks in random
             | places actually _do_ exactly.
             | 
             | I just I know sometimes click by accident at the very
             | bottom right of my display on MacOS and it swishes all the
             | windows to the right (why? I have no idea?!), clicking
             | again brings them back luckily.
             | 
             | On iOS I resonate with your comments about the swiping from
             | different places to get different things. The only gesture
             | I can ever remember is swiping from top right to get the
             | quick system menu to turn wifi on/off etc. I can never
             | figure out how to clear my notifications or why they're
             | sometimes displayed and sometimes aren't. And the other
             | swipes and menus are completely beyond me.
             | 
             | I'm a 40 year old life long software developer.
             | 
             | "iOS on a large iPad" has some good affordances but is
             | definitely NOT some kind of panacea for elderly or computer
             | illiterate users!
        
               | Hnrobert42 wrote:
               | > swishing right
               | 
               | It could be
               | 
               | 1. you clicked the desktop which causes the desktop to be
               | revealed. Clicking the desktop again restores things.
               | 
               | 2. You have hot corners configured to reveal the desktop.
               | 
               | 3. Stage manager.
               | 
               | Just my guesses. Maybe they will help.
        
           | hu3 wrote:
           | You mean the OS that "upgraded" to transparent background,
           | sometimes hard to read text by default?
           | 
           | I can't recommend those in good concience ton elders anymore.
           | 
           | Kids always figure it out tho.
        
           | hulitu wrote:
           | > What youre describing is called iOS on a large iPad.
           | 
           | Is iOS able to work with files ? Asking for a friend. /s
        
         | Levitating wrote:
         | I couldn't tell you how many operating systems fit those
         | requirements, hobby or not.
        
         | hollerith wrote:
         | >if your needs are basic (kids, elderly, . . .)
         | 
         | Most kids and most elderly need to run a mainstream browser
         | from time to time, and this Visopsys will almost certainly
         | _never_ be able to run a mainstream browser.
        
           | wizzwizz4 wrote:
           | Then we need to change what is meant by "mainstream browser".
        
             | graemep wrote:
             | I would love to see that happen, but its not going to.
             | 
             | It is the people with basic needs who need to stick to the
             | mainstream stuff because they can get support and it does
             | what they expect. People need bank and other complex
             | websites to work. They want to watch online video. Kids
             | will need educational apps.
             | 
             | Also do not make assumptions about elderly people. Not long
             | ago I met a woman (guess in her 70s?) who used to write
             | embedded software for nuclear reactors. I have known many
             | people or similar or greater age who need quite complex
             | stuff.
             | 
             | Its the geeks who can manage with the non-mainstream stuff.
        
               | wizzwizz4 wrote:
               | Web browsers have three purposes: document viewer, remote
               | paperwork machine, and cross-platform application
               | framework. I could throw together a browser _fully_
               | capable of the first two in a month. (Much less time, if
               | you 're okay shipping a prototype, which personally I'm
               | not.) Bank websites are not complex, unless you count the
               | business logic: there's no _reason_ they shouldn 't work
               | in Dillo.
        
               | hollerith wrote:
               | Yes, almost any competent developer could define a simple
               | document format that would make it easy to write viewers
               | for all the niche OSes, but he cannot persuade content
               | creators to adopt the simple format because most creators
               | (writers) don't see anything wrong with publishing on the
               | web and don't see anything wrong with relying on
               | intermediaries like Wordpress, Medium and Substack to
               | help them publish on the web. Those intermediaries do not
               | want to switch to a simple document format because the
               | user's being dependent on a mainstream browser helps them
               | to track users and to monetize.
               | 
               | So 99% of the time, a user ends up needing the full
               | complexity of a mainstream browser just to read a static
               | document.
        
         | rvz wrote:
         | > and unlike a lot of other "hobby" OSes actually looks usable
         | as a daily driver if your needs are basic (kids, elderly,
         | older/cheaper hardware, etc).
         | 
         | While building a non-Linux OS is very impressive, however this
         | is not useful as a daily driver at all.
         | 
         | If the OS doesn't even have basic browsers such as Chrome or
         | Firefox, it can't be remotely used as a daily driver to anyone
         | who isn't a computer enthusiast.
        
           | xuhu wrote:
           | I wonder if Visopsys, Windows 3.11 and others could work as a
           | daily driver running in qemu, started from a Linux initrd
           | that has just a browser and qemu. "Opening" the browser in
           | Visopsys actually switches to the browser running on the
           | host, and Alt-Tab switches back to Visopsys.
        
         | Rygian wrote:
         | From the Visopsys "About" page:
         | 
         | > [...] realistically the target audience remains limited to
         | operating system enthusiasts, students, and assorted other
         | sensation seekers
        
       | ciroduran wrote:
       | Very impressed by the screenshots in the website. This is no
       | small feat.
        
       | _false wrote:
       | Took me a while to realize it's not a linux distro. Incredible!
        
       | sorbusherra wrote:
       | Amazing! I find it extremely fascinating that somebody is able to
       | create entire operating system. Not a easy task!
        
         | grepfru_it wrote:
         | take a look at AtheOS it's successor SyllableOS. created by a
         | single developer, another single developer took it over
         | (syllable) and it shortly became an open source project before
         | it went defunct again. But it made impressive gains in the 3
         | years of initial development.
         | 
         | i miss those days of everyone and their mom creating an OS for
         | giggles
        
           | wowczarek wrote:
           | Don't forget SkyOS. And there's plenty more, with SerenityOS
           | being one of the latest notable examples. Those days never
           | ended. Also ekhem ekhem TempleOS, as single developer as you
           | can get.
        
             | pkphilip wrote:
             | SkyOS ? I actually paid to be on the Beta program and then
             | suddenly out of the blue the developer pulled the plug on
             | the project completely. Not sure what happened but there
             | were rumours that the code may have "borrowed" from other
             | operating systems but I am not sure.
        
         | pjmlp wrote:
         | CP/M was also created by one person.
        
           | anthk wrote:
           | CP/M was far more simpler.
        
             | pjmlp wrote:
             | OP didn't mentioned complexity, nor any kind of comparison.
        
               | anthk wrote:
               | Nice then. OTOH, CP/M 2.2 has been open sourced, but I
               | think there are no libre assemblers for it.
               | 
               | Cross-assemblers, there's one: http://john.ccac.rwth-
               | aachen.de:8000/as/ but it's tedious to build under
               | OpenBSD.
               | 
               | As for software, the ZMachine and V3 games don't count as
               | 'libre examples'.
        
               | pjmlp wrote:
               | Libre was also not part of the comment I replied to.
        
             | II2II wrote:
             | In all probability, yes. I'm not sure how much easier it
             | would be to develop though. Back then, most (if not all) of
             | the operating system was developed in assembly language
             | while there was far more to consider when it came down to
             | performance and memory usage (which is often in conflict
             | with each other). CP/M was also notorious for running on
             | hardware that was incompatible with each other, relying
             | upon the BIOS to smooth out those irregularities. While
             | that may simplify the development in some respects, such as
             | the hardware vendor developing hardware drivers, it
             | complicates development in other respects, since CP/M
             | development could not make assumptions about the underlying
             | hardware.
        
         | portaouflop wrote:
         | Ever heard of TempleOS?
         | 
         | It's the only OS endorsed by God.
        
           | shhhhhplease wrote:
           | Was looking for this
        
           | latentsea wrote:
           | Made by the greatest programmer that ever lived.
        
         | desi_ninja wrote:
         | You will be blown away by Serenity OS then.
        
           | vhhn wrote:
           | Or Linux
        
             | panki27 wrote:
             | I believe you are referring to GNU/Linux, or as I've
             | recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux.
        
         | bombcar wrote:
         | It's not easy, but it's more approachable than many realize.
         | 
         | Much of modern operating systems are the hordes and hordes of
         | drivers; the fundamentals aren't terribly complicated; just
         | lots of detail.
        
           | II2II wrote:
           | It would also depend upon what you are trying to accomplish.
           | You have simple filesystems and complex filesystems. You have
           | simple video drivers, and you have complex video drivers.
           | Simplicity gets the job done, but complexity may offer better
           | reliability or performance or features.
           | 
           | Then there is the question of what one means by an operating
           | system. While I'm sure that most people would agree that much
           | of the software shipped with Windows, Mac OS, or the typical
           | Linux distribution isn't part of an operating system proper,
           | few would agree upon where the boundary lies.
        
           | ModernMech wrote:
           | > just lots of detail.
           | 
           | "Just" is understating it.
           | 
           | It's the kind of project that takes 20 years to accomplish on
           | your own, and everything seems doable from moment to moment
           | because you have to work very slowly, and the stepwise
           | changes aren't hard.
           | 
           | Just get the thing to boot. Just boot into extended mode.
           | Just get graphics running. Just get a userspace. Just
           | implement cooperative multitasking. Every step is "just", but
           | when you take a step back the complexity is enormous, and it
           | becomes hard to explain to anyone how it works in its
           | entirety.
           | 
           | Although it seems easy to the author because that's just how
           | his brain works now -- by then end of it, you and the OS are
           | one and the same, where your brain is essentially a map of
           | the codebase and nothing more, because nothing else can fit.
        
           | sitzkrieg wrote:
           | as others have pointed out "just" is doin big overtime here.
           | but also x86_64 saps the fun out by forcing you into archaic
           | irrelevant details IMMEDIATELY. but really, it's a good
           | filter
           | 
           | making toy os for a nice small board on a nice architecture
           | like riscv is night and day more enjoyable. not that modern
           | boards that have more device tree overlays than senses are a
           | good starting point either.
           | 
           | a more modern mmix that builds further up, or nand2tetris,
           | xv6 or any other riscv project going all the way to a user
           | mode ui would be really cool
        
       | iamgopal wrote:
       | By now, especially in linux, there should emerge an OS that is
       | purely scripts to generate OS. Or is it already ?
        
         | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
         | Depending on how you mean it, that exists variously in at least
         | yocto, gentoo, or ALFS. Although I should point out this
         | (visopsys) isn't Linux distro
        
         | mehackernewsacc wrote:
         | NixOS is what you are describing: https://nixos.org
        
       | khimaros wrote:
       | it took me a while to find. here is the source code:
       | https://sourceforge.net/projects/visopsys/files/visopsys-0.9...
        
         | RockieYang wrote:
         | Thanks for digging it out. It is still quite large code base.
         | 274052 lines.
        
           | kragen wrote:
           | That's 4000 pages, small enough that you could easily lift
           | it. You could read it all in a week, though that wouldn't be
           | enough time to understand much of it. It's half the size of
           | glibc and a hundredth the size of Firefox or the Linux
           | kernel.
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Surprisingly only one small previous thread:
       | 
       |  _Visopsys_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18147201 - Oct
       | 2018 (6 comments)
        
         | dylan604 wrote:
         | Even dang was like "dang, this topic has only been submitted
         | once before now?"
        
       | dustractor wrote:
       | It mentions preemptive multitasking as one of its features. Are
       | there any operating systems that still use cooperative
       | multitasking?
        
         | andsoitis wrote:
         | > Are there any operating systems that still use cooperative
         | multitasking?
         | 
         | RISC OS uses cooperative multitasking:
         | http://www.riscos.info/index.php/Preemptive_multitasking
        
         | throw-qqqqq wrote:
         | Many RTOS support it, eg FreeRTOS's co-routines:
         | https://www.freertos.org/Documentation/02-Kernel/02-Kernel-f...
        
         | jonjacky wrote:
         | There is Wirth and Gutknecht's Oberon System. It's still
         | available but is older than Visopsys -- it was created around
         | 1990, then updated in 2013. I think it's now considered an
         | historical artifact.
         | 
         | https://www.projectoberon.net/
        
         | bigstrat2003 wrote:
         | I think it's worth mentioning on a hobby OS, just because it's
         | a decent bit more work to do preemptive multitasking. It's a
         | badge of honor to have successfully implemented it.
        
         | hulitu wrote:
         | > Are there any operating systems that still use cooperative
         | multitasking?
         | 
         | Android ? /s Still not able to run 2 programs in the same time
         | after all these years.
        
       | jonhermansen wrote:
       | Michael MJD did a video on this recently :)
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/5MZljgXW2WA
        
       | arjie wrote:
       | Speaking of these, does anyone recall the AtheneOS
       | distribution/OS. There's an archive.org copy of the desktop
       | environment version of it, but I recall there was a really fast
       | version with only 2D graphics and it was a full distribution.
       | 
       | Can anyone validate whether this is real? I tried contacting the
       | guy who wrote it but the Companies House address for his company
       | (Rocklyte) bounced the letter.
        
         | anthk wrote:
         | Syllabe OS?
        
           | arjie wrote:
           | Huh, SyllableOS might well be it. I thought for sure it was a
           | different version of Athene that I was running but now
           | looking at the screenshots they have a weird familiarity to
           | them so maybe it was just around the same time that I tried
           | both and the memory of two decades has blurred. Thank you!
        
       | globalnode wrote:
       | still getting 403 after a few hours
        
         | globalnode wrote:
         | oh i get it, geo blocked. had to fire up tor out of spite just
         | to have a look
        
       | zxcvgm wrote:
       | Ahh this OS is small enough that a university professor used it
       | as the basis for his class assignments: write a device driver for
       | it, or a pipe implementation, if I recall correctly. I thought it
       | was pretty genius at the time, and it was certainly quite a
       | challenge for the students too.
        
       | visopsys wrote:
       | I took an OS in college in 2006 and the big project that my prof
       | required us to do was to make modification of visopsys. The
       | software was primitive at that time but still had UI interface.
       | 
       | I emailed the author to ask some questions in my project. The
       | author had connection with my prof and informed my prof about
       | this. My prof told me that I was not allowed to ask the author
       | regarding this project. So I had to figured out on my own.
       | 
       | It was fun to play around with and learnt how things work at deep
       | OS level. It was a good memory for me :)
       | 
       | And you guys notice anything about my username? :)
        
         | tsoukase wrote:
         | Reading your post until the end was like watching a movie...
        
         | ctxc wrote:
         | Sounds like an insane ride xD
        
         | 7thaccount wrote:
         | I can't tell if OP just really enjoyed the experience or if he
         | is the actual author of the OS.
        
           | ilaksh wrote:
           | He just named himself in honor of something he remembered
           | fondly.
        
           | visopsys wrote:
           | No, I am not the author. I just liked the project and the
           | name that I chose it for my hackernews account 14 years ago.
           | No intention to misrepresent the project or the author.
        
             | phendrenad2 wrote:
             | > liked the project and the name that I chose it for my
             | hackernews account 14 years ago
             | 
             | Some people name themselves `__xXx_ultimatEWeapon420_xXx__`
             | and some people name themselves after a random toy
             | operating system.
        
               | visopsys wrote:
               | Classic nerd habit.
        
       | marenVoyant88 wrote:
       | It's amazing how one person kept this project alive since 1997,
       | that's real passion and love for coding!
        
       | alcover wrote:
       | Naive question: would using such an OS bring some security by
       | obscurity ?
        
       | GaryBluto wrote:
       | > PC compatible computers
       | 
       | That takes me back.
        
       | tanepiper wrote:
       | TempleOS with a BeOS GUI - that's the vibe
        
       | malomalsky wrote:
       | Just use temple os
        
       | Rochus wrote:
       | Interesting. Never heard of this system before. It's apparently a
       | monolithic kernel, developed almost exclusively by originally
       | Canadian programmer Andy McLaughlin since 1997. The system has a
       | graphical user interface, preemptive multitasking, and virtual
       | memory. It is implemented in C and IA-32 assembly language. Here
       | is a 2012 interview with the author:
       | https://www.pingdom.com/blog/visopsys-operating-system/.
        
       | pavlov wrote:
       | It's short for "visual operating system" but there are no
       | screenshots anywhere. That would have felt off even in 1997.
       | 
       | Maybe they mean something else by visual.
        
         | hi_hello wrote:
         | https://visopsys.org/about/screenshots/
        
         | wjnc wrote:
         | Around 1997 I learned the concept of RTFM! Obviously my father
         | already taught me to look in the DOS and WordPerfect manuals to
         | learn about features and commands one might use. Great
         | learnings.
         | 
         | Oh and:
         | 
         | https://visopsys.org/about/screenshots/
        
           | velocity3230 wrote:
           | > Great learnings.
           | 
           | Lessons. The word is lessons.
        
         | fb03 wrote:
         | In the homepage there's literally a link on the top bar called
         | "Screenshots"
        
       | Jemm wrote:
       | I can't seem to find if it has a web browser or if you can
       | install the web browser
        
       | anta40 wrote:
       | Hmmm nice to see the OS is still under development.
       | 
       | First time I saw it was during undergraduate days.... 2006 or
       | 2007?
        
       | phendrenad2 wrote:
       | I'm surprised there aren't more hand-crafted OSs popping up on
       | HN. Agentic AI can give you the basics of an OS in 15 minutes. It
       | gets confused when debugging assembly code, but it can give you a
       | good framework and walk you though the remainder of the steps.
        
         | BoredPositron wrote:
         | I am intrigued. Go ahead and show us ONE 15 minute agentic ai
         | os that runs on metal.
        
           | anthk wrote:
           | The parent commenter should get an Altair Z80 emulator with
           | CP/M 2.2 and begin writting stuff in assembly.
           | 
           | Even a simple Tetris would be a daunting task.
           | 
           | He could even try high level languages such as T3X, which is
           | very Pascal-like to my eyes in order to be familiar with CP/M
           | 2.2 and after some months I would switch to Z80 assembly in
           | order to write stuff for CP/M.
           | 
           | These AI's would be clueless about T3X OFC, or almost,
           | because of the nasty scrappers. Still, it would be an ideal
           | exercise to avoid the AI completely. You learn by the book.
           | Literally.
        
         | trueismywork wrote:
         | The biggest problem on today's OS is I/O driver. Specifically
         | USB driver.
        
           | anthk wrote:
           | And ACPI/APIC and tons of extra pests.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2025-11-02 23:00 UTC)