A D port of the Linux Kernel?

https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD

Any thoughts on the project?

On Friday, 16 December 2016 at 16:12:38 UTC, D.Rex wrote:
> A D port of the Linux Kernel?
>
> https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD
>
> Any thoughts on the project?

I think the project should have started with a fork of the official source and should always build a working kernel, making conversions to D in pieces but always building.

It is also a large project which could provide some entertainment.

On Friday, 16 December 2016 at 16:12:38 UTC, D.Rex wrote:
> A D port of the Linux Kernel?
>
> https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD
>
> Any thoughts on the project?

Linux is too bloated and there is no any reasons to re-implement it.

On Friday, 16 December 2016 at 16:12:38 UTC, D.Rex wrote:
> A D port of the Linux Kernel?
>
> https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD
>
> Any thoughts on the project?

Depends on how strictly you want to reimplement GNU/Linux, or whether something Posix-y is enough.

Anyway, a D "libc" would be really awesome.  Something like Newlib in pure D would be great for OS programming in D.

On Saturday, 17 December 2016 at 17:19:55 UTC, Jesse Phillips wrote:
> On Friday, 16 December 2016 at 16:12:38 UTC, D.Rex wrote:
>> A D port of the Linux Kernel?
>>
>> https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD
>>
>> Any thoughts on the project?
>
> I think the project should have started with a fork of the official source and should always build a working kernel, making conversions to D in pieces but always building.
>
> It is also a large project which could provide some entertainment.

Thats not a bad idea, once I figure out how to incorporate D into the original
Source and build with make files I will give it a shot.  Start with some basic
Conversions, then branch out further to the bigger stuff.  One of my main interests
In converting it entirely to do is to see how much faster the kernel would compile.

Hopefully the idea is to give it a much faster compile time and make changes faster and easier to implement.  What are your thoughts on how I have implemented the strcpy type stuff?

On Sunday, 18 December 2016 at 00:10:47 UTC, sarn wrote:
> On Friday, 16 December 2016 at 16:12:38 UTC, D.Rex wrote:
>> A D port of the Linux Kernel?
>>
>> https://github.com/whatsthisnow/ProjectD
>>
>> Any thoughts on the project?
>
> Depends on how strictly you want to reimplement GNU/Linux, or whether something Posix-y is enough.
>
> Anyway, a D "libc" would be really awesome.  Something like Newlib in pure D would be great for OS programming in D.

I am basing the kernel on Linux because, well, I like Linux, and its the only complete kernel with free source that I currently know of.  Given that it is widely
Used as an OS kernel, it kinda made sense to port it, give it a new engine under the hood so to speak.  I would like to keep it as close to the original as possible such that linux programmers will still have a generally familiar environment to work with, rather than having to learn an entirely new kernel.

As far as GlibD, well the point of the project is to give Linux, as a I said before, a metaphorical new engine under the hood, so it wouldn't be sensible to not convert libc and the coreutils etc to D as well since Linux requires them.  Plus, this might be a good opportunity for the community, as well as the creators of D, to incorporate some features into the kernel that would benefit the D language itself.  I think i remember reading somewhere, someone (maybe one of the creators) stated that garbage collection should be done in the Kernel, well I think this would be a perfect opportunity to test that as an experimental feature.  Possibly pull GC out of the D libraries and put it in the kernel for this project.

Anyway, thats some of my thoughts on the project.

On Sunday, 18 December 2016 at 03:05:13 UTC, Whatsthisnow wrote:
> I am basing the kernel on Linux because, well, I like Linux, and its the only complete kernel with free source that I currently know of.  Given that it is widely
> Used as an OS kernel, it kinda made sense to port it, give it a new engine under the hood so to speak.  I would like to keep it as close to the original as possible such that linux programmers will still have a generally familiar environment to work with, rather than having to learn an entirely new kernel.
>
> As far as GlibD, well the point of the project is to give Linux, as a I said before, a metaphorical new engine under the hood, so it wouldn't be sensible to not convert libc and the coreutils etc to D as well since Linux requires them.  Plus, this might be a good opportunity for the community, as well as the creators of D, to incorporate some features into the kernel that would benefit the D language itself.  I think i remember reading somewhere, someone (maybe one of the creators) stated that garbage collection should be done in the Kernel, well I think this would be a perfect opportunity to test that as an experimental feature.
>  Possibly pull GC out of the D libraries and put it in the kernel for this project.
>
> Anyway, thats some of my thoughts on the project.

Having said that though, keeping it as familiar as possible, it would be a no brainer to make full use of D's features to make the kernel the best it can be.  I am no master with D at the moment, so I was hoping some community members might be interested in putting their hands in the project and committing some good code ports.

On Sunday, 18 December 2016 at 03:05:13 UTC, Whatsthisnow wrote:
> On Sunday, 18 December 2016 at 00:10:47 UTC, sarn wrote:
>> [...]
>
> I am basing the kernel on Linux because, well, I like Linux, and its the only complete kernel with free source that I currently know of.  Given that it is widely
> Used as an OS kernel, it kinda made sense to port it, give it a new engine under the hood so to speak.  I would like to keep it as close to the original as possible such that linux programmers will still have a generally familiar environment to work with, rather than having to learn an entirely new kernel.
>
> [...]

I'd be inclined to start with a smaller OS like Plan9. Even FreeBSD would be simpler, althoguh no less gargantuan than Linux, it is better organised and documented IMO.

Anyway good luck with this, even if you don't finish you're bound to learn a lot in the process.

bye,
lobo

A Minix port could be interesting as well. The kernel seems to be pretty small.

On Sunday, 18 December 2016 at 08:05:20 UTC, Jacques Müller wrote:
> A Minix port could be interesting as well. The kernel seems to be pretty small.

Well if others want to work on porting those kernels they can, we could potentially look into expanding my repo to include all kinds of kernel projects, assuming there is enough interest in them, then we have a solid an entire project collection of potential D kernel solutions.  That would be one heck of a boost for D I think.