
LOSAK: A prototype Lisp OS - fogus
http://losak.sourceforge.net/
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sanxiyn
If you are interested in Lisp OS, you should look at Movitz too:
<http://common-lisp.net/project/movitz/>

~~~
calcnerd256
I have a severe (self-diagnosed :P ) case of Not Invented Here. It prevents me
from hacking on Somebody Else's Code. It's why I use Ubuntu instead of Plan9
or HURD or Movitz. I really want to move toward one of those, but I just can't
make myself make the time to get used to them to the point where I can add
enough to them to feel comfortable that I'll be able to do anything I need to.
Is there a tutorial for people like me to learn how to get involved with such
a big undertaking as contributing to a partially-completed OS written by
someone else?

~~~
jff
The three OS examples you give are all at varying stages of completeness:
Movitz is just a text-mode Lisp prompt; HURD has been in development for over
20 years and still hasn't had a stable release; Plan 9 has had multiple
commercial releases in those same 20 years, each a significant advance over
the other, and now the whole system is free. I've worked with Plan 9 for
several years now. The advantages for a developer are that you can understand
the entirety of the kernel with a little effort, there is a centralized
location for user-contributed code, the tools are excellent, and the community
is small enough that you can really get to know everyone.

Linux has 30 different applications for every task, and most of them suck hard
in at least one major point, but you get the feeling that there's nothing left
to write. In Plan 9, there's a wide open field of useful things to create. It
would be nice to have some decent calendaring tools, for instance. While we
only really have one windowing system, rio, there's nothing at all to stop you
from making a different one, say with title bars and buttons--and people would
use it, especially clueless disgruntled newbies :)

So really, the tutorial for Plan 9 is "read the wiki, play with the system,
write some code when you're ready."

~~~
calcnerd256
I guess it's time for me to try Plan 9 in a virtual machine again soon. Last
time I tried it, I wasn't able to get it up to the point that I could use the
Web browser. That's kind of necessary these days, if one wants to stick with
an OS.

