Very interesting. I must do an end-of-training project this year involving Rapsberry Pi devices. Perhaps I'll give it a try.
Regards Sergio 2015-09-29 14:20 GMT+02:00 Liam Proven <lpro...@gmail.com>: > A little offtopic but I hope of some interest. > > I rather miss the days of small, simple, 8-bit computers which a > single non-specialist could really get inside and understand. > > The latest OS I've seen which addresses this longing is Interim. > > > http://interim.mntmn.com/ > > > This is most of the introduction from the explanatory paper: > > > « > Computers, networks and the software running them today are shrouded in > mysteries and corporate secrecy. As miniaturization progresses in the name > of mobility and energy-efficiency, an increasing amount of complex > functionality is crammed into ever smaller System-on-Chip dies. > > > The so-called "Home computers" of the 1980s contained comparably larger > and simpler circuit boards with blocky, easily discernible DIP (Dual > in-line package) components and circuits that could be visually understood > by the human eye. The central processing unit (CPU) was easily identified > by its size and exposed placement. The separate memory chips were neatly > arranged like terraced houses. The computers worked in pedestrian > single-digit-Mhz speeds and memory was measured in kilobytes. They shipped > with handbooks that taught a novice reader how to program the machine, and > a circuit diagram of the whole machine – useful for repairs – was easily > available. > > > In the 1980s home computer era, operating systems where typically stored > in read-only memory (ROM) chips. As in modern proprietary operating > systems, the source code was not directly available, but this was not > strictly necessary, as they were written in assembly language and not > "compiled" from a higher level language. Commented "dis-assemblies", > machine code listings, were available in printed book form [Schineis1984] > for popular computers like the Commodore 64 and its "KERNAL" OS and BASIC > language interpreter. > > > Today, we have Linux, probably the most successful open source Unix-like > operating system and the BSD family of OSes, but these systems and most of > the platforms they run on (PCs, ARM-based telephones) are so complex and > contain so many obscure components that no single book can describe their > operating principles in full detail, and trying to understand and master > them is a task that takes many years of study. > > > With "Interim", I try to describe a computer and operating system that > takes advantage of modern-day hardware technology while ideally being > fully comprehensible in a couple of days. My strategy is to use minimalism > and generic, reusable patterns wherever possible while learning from > historical, ultimately unsuccessful but valuable attempts like Lisp > machines or the operating system Plan 9 from Bell Labs [Pike]. The Interim > system is supposed to be a pointer in the right direction, not a perfect > blueprint, and a documentation of my own experimental attempts. Others may > build upon these ideas. > » > > (Yes, it's Lisp-y.) > > The previous OS with this view being TempleOS: http://www.templeos.org/ > > This is a nice explanatory quote: > > « > The main reasons TempleOS is simple and beautiful are because it's > ring-0-only and identity-mapped. Linux wants to be a secure, > multi-user mainframe. > That's the vision for Linux. That's why it has file permissions. The > vision for > TempleOS is a modern, 64-bit Commodore 64. The C64 was a home computer > mostly used for games. It trained my generation how to program. It was > simple, > open and hackable. It was not networked. The games were not multimedia > works > of art, but generated programmatically with innocent, programmer > (non-artist) > quality graphics. It was simple and unsecure. If you don't have malware > and you don't have bugs, protection just slows things down and makes the > code > complicated. > » > > > Source: http://www.templeos.org/Wb/Home/Wb2/TempleOS.html > > > -- > Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile > Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven > MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven > Cell/Mobiles: +44 7939-087884 (UK) • +420 702 829 053 (ČR) >
