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The Unix Executable as a Smalltalk Method [pdf]

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Re: The Unix Executable as a Smalltalk Method [pdf]

#21
post #3

I had a chance to skim over the paper, and I'm very inspired; I'm looking forward to reading it in depth and considering its lessons while working on my side project. For about a decade, I've been dreaming about building a modern operating system that is highly malleable and encourages component-based software design, and I've collected many thoughts and done a lot of reading. I've been inspired by many projects, inc…

Sounds interesting; I would like to see more OSes built out of passion. Just curious about design choices (I don't mean to come off as aggressive below):

> from basing off of Plan 9 to building a new exokernel in a language like Rust

This seems like a big change. Won't the driver support and infrastructure be even more of a hassle? And why an exokernel in particular?

> using a single-address space design similar to Opal

Why?

I like the emphasis on composability and user control. I think, more and more, people are realizing the necessity to seek out OS designs different than the mainstream offerings'. Can't let Linux be the final stage of OS evolution!

Re: The Unix Executable as a Smalltalk Method [pdf]

#22
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks I was looking for that. I've seen a video about that some time ago and couldn't remember the name or the anything. For those interested here's a link to the actual project: * https://github.com/stephenrkell/liballocs

Probably a lot of overlap with the links upthread, but [0] also goes over Unix and Smalltalk (and I only just realized is also by Stephen Kell). [0] https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2525528.2525534

This quote from Dan Ingalls is also relevant:

"An operating system is a collection of things that don’t fit into a language. There shouldn’t be one."

Re: The Unix Executable as a Smalltalk Method [pdf]

#24
post #11

Reminds me of the "Liberating the Smalltalk lurking in C and Unix" talk by Stephen Kell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwicN2u6Dro

Joel Jakubovic's talk is here: https://youtu.be/gD7ajjCHYbU?t=20378 It includes Q+As from a number of people, including Stephen Kell.
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