linux from nothing

[James Bonnet]

m.w.chang wrote:

> AH.. FORGOT ABOUT MINIX! I did read about Mr. Trovald's story and 
> forgot about that piece. lost marks in linux history... :(
>
> and how did the guy crated minix? where is that very core bootdisk?
> shouldn't linuxfromscratch begin from that very first bootdisk?  :)
>
>>> I think he meant, how do you create an OS when you have nothing.  Using
>>> Knoppix is kinda cheating, cause you're using the OS to create the OS.
>>> Linus didn't have Linux to self-host his original kernel.
>>
>> right.. but he had minix.. which is where linux came from if Im not 
>> mistaken.. NOT that he took minix and hacked it into linux, but that 
>> he created linux ON minux..
>
>

Thats where xenix, sinix, and UNICS the grand-daddy come into play.. 
going back to 1969..

So yesterday I was talking to this guy here who worked at AT&T during 
the heyday and I said hey, what was before UNICS(yes it was a C)...Bob 
was one of the original at&t support guys.. just a wealth of knowledge, 
and yes BS.. [grin]  Bob says, pulling up a chair getting ready to tell 
me a bedtime story.. That previous to any operating system as we know 
today there were routines programmed into computers of the time that did 
specific "things" They(users)accessed these routines by passing hex-data 
on keypad to them got results back then fed results to another routine 
until they got their answer.. if no routing existed they programmed 
these beasts with yet another routing.. enter kerrigan and ritchey, they 
decided to combine these routines and add some fluff to make computers 
easier to use.. shells, editors, etc..

then ol' bob and i had a discussion about what an operating system is.. 
IMHO and Bob agrees, its just the kernel, memory management, basic IO, 
etc.. Its not bash, vi, emacs, or whatever.. But, Im sure your opinions 
will vary..

anyway, so.. mr. chang.. unless you have a PDP11 laying around and want 
to re-invent the wheel.. why don't you pick a current linux or UNIX, or 
heck windows OS and create your own new and fresh OS.. there is LOTS of 
information about making kernels and operating systems. There are 
college classes that teach you this and people have written tons of 
books on the subject.

creating kernels is something I'm actually quite initerested in so the 
discussion on the roots of all of this was interesting. An _excellent_ 
book is "The Secret Garden Explained" no longer in print, but you can 
find it.. Further, lots of the ancient source code, (is that our IP?! 
heh) is availabe from SCO. Read it, understand it.. and then copy it and 
use it in your kernel.. JUST KIDDING.

you all have a great day-
jim