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Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

visopsys.org

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Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#91

Post by ilaksh »

7thaccount wrote: post #89
visopsys wrote: post #45

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…

I can't tell if OP just really enjoyed the experience or if he is the actual author of the OS.

He just named himself in honor of something he remembered fondly.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#92

Post by Forgeties79 »

Razengan wrote: post #62
exe34 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

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.

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.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#93

Post by Forgeties79 »

Razengan wrote: post #42
Forgeties79 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 functiona…

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.

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”

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#94

Post by Rygian »

sen wrote: post #4

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 thi…

From the Visopsys "About" page:

> [...] realistically the target audience remains limited to operating system enthusiasts, students, and assorted other sensation seekers

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#95

Post by visopsys »

7thaccount wrote: post #89
visopsys wrote: post #45

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…

I can't tell if OP just really enjoyed the experience or if he is the actual author of the OS.

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.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#96

Post by pjmlp »

anthk wrote: post #83
pjmlp wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP didn't mentioned complexity, nor any kind of comparison.

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'.

Libre was also not part of the comment I replied to.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#97

Post by ModernMech »

vasco wrote: post #59
Nextgrid wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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?

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!

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#98

Post by ModernMech »

bombcar wrote: post #51
sorbusherra wrote: post #9

Amazing! I find it extremely fascinating that somebody is able to create entire operating system. Not a easy task!

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.

> 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.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#99

Post by xuhu »

rvz wrote: post #30
sen wrote: post #4

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 thi…

> 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.

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.

Re: Visopsys: OS maintained by a single developer since 1997

#100

Post by sitzkrieg »

bombcar wrote: post #51
sorbusherra wrote: post #9

Amazing! I find it extremely fascinating that somebody is able to create entire operating system. Not a easy task!

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.

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

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