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0 pointsIgorPartola1y ago0 comments

You are asking a question that doesn’t make sense. It seems like to you it does, and to others it sounds like “what does the color blue taste like?” People do stuff for fun. It doesn’t have to be useful. Or it can be useful to them because it isn’t the existing thing. xv6 is great, this is different. It makes different choices and studying the differences can be a good thing. Comparing two different pieces of software written in the same language is sometimes exactly what you want.

The logic of “something similar already exists so don’t bother” is reductive. I am sure 99% of hobbyist software is useless to anyone but the person who wrote it. It still helps people learn and become professionals.

Remember a few weeks ago there was a post here by a high school student detailing building a laptop from scratch. Was that wasted effort because you can just buy a laptop? Was Linux wasted effort? Why does this project offend you so much that you keep commenting on it in such a negative way?

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Rochus1y ago· 4 in thread

> Comparing two different pieces of software written in the same language is sometimes exactly what you want.

And here we are at my question, which obviously makes sense. So what's the difference to xv6? Why did the author consider it important to implement yet another unix-like system in C? What is the core benefit of this specific kernel? The website doesn't provide an answer.

> that you keep commenting on it in such a negative way?

That is a false accusation. I have not said anything negative about this project.

rangerelf1y ago

I think it's a cool project even though I have no interest in downloading and running it, but it's a technological curiosity that might yield some insight of other things.

If you're so hell-bent on knowing what differentiates Fiwix from xv6 why don't you download the projects and compare them? You shouldn't be asking others to do your work for you, or to justify their choices and actions to you.

Rochus1y ago

> You shouldn't be asking others to do your work for you, or to justify their choices and actions to you.

Are you serious? This is HN, so it's reasonable to assume that there are people here (obviously not you) who know the project and can answer questions about it quickly. After all, the project author has even set up a dedicated website and is asking for support for his project. It should be in his and the other project contributors' interest to communicate the advantages of the project to people on their own initiative. I don't consider it my job to analyze the source code to find out for myself. I'm very interested in lean operating systems, especially for embedded SMP systems, but my time is limited.

kube-system1y ago

> Why did the author consider it important to implement yet another unix-like system in C? What is the core benefit of this specific kernel? The website doesn't provide an answer.

The website does answer your questions:

> It is designed and developed mainly as a hobby OS

A hobby is something that someone does for their personal enjoyment; it isn't any more complicated than that.

Rochus1y ago

> It is designed and developed mainly as a hobby OS

That doesn't answer my questions at all; e.g. Linux also started out as a hobby, and yet Linus had a clear position on why he considered his system to be better than e.g. Minix, and why he made certain design decisions. Hobby does not in any way preclude rational, goal-oriented motivation.

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5 comments · 1 top-level

Rochus1y ago· 4 in thread

> Comparing two different pieces of software written in the same language is sometimes exactly what you want.

> that you keep commenting on it in such a negative way?

That is a false accusation. I have not said anything negative about this project.

rangerelf1y ago

I think it's a cool project even though I have no interest in downloading and running it, but it's a technological curiosity that might yield some insight of other things.

Rochus1y ago

> You shouldn't be asking others to do your work for you, or to justify their choices and actions to you.

kube-system1y ago

> Why did the author consider it important to implement yet another unix-like system in C? What is the core benefit of this specific kernel? The website doesn't provide an answer.

The website does answer your questions:

> It is designed and developed mainly as a hobby OS

A hobby is something that someone does for their personal enjoyment; it isn't any more complicated than that.

Rochus1y ago

> It is designed and developed mainly as a hobby OS

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