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Show HN: My from-scratch OS kernel that runs DOOM

(github.com)
320 points UnmappedStack | 21 comments | 24 Apr 25 00:15 UTC | HN request time: 2.459s | source | bottom

Hi there! I've been on-and-off working on TacOS for a few months, which follows some UNIX-derived concepts (exec/fork, unix-style VFS, etc) and is now able to run a port of Doom, with a fairly small amount of modifications, using my from-scratch libc. The performance is actually decent compared to what I expected. Very interested to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
1. donnachangstein ◴[24 Apr 25 02:38 UTC] No.43778791[source]▶
A few months work by one guy and already more capable than the Hurd.

Imagine what you could accomplish given 35 years.

replies(4): >>43778843 #>>43779264 #>>43780080 #>>43782690 #
2. UnmappedStack ◴[24 Apr 25 02:50 UTC] No.43778843[source]▶
Haha not quite at the point Hurd has gotten. I'd be very happy if I could last that long on one project though, I have a tendency to get bored after a few months sadly.
replies(1): >>43779089 #
3. parl_match ◴[24 Apr 25 03:46 UTC] No.43779089[source]▶
> Haha not quite at the point Hurd has gotten

that's true, you've only shipped to one computer, while they've shipped to dozens!

4. dxroshan ◴[24 Apr 25 04:30 UTC] No.43779264[source]▶
> A few months work by one guy and already more capable than the Hurd

It is no way capable than Hurd. It is a cool project though. Have you used Hurd recently? It can run a modern desktop.

replies(2): >>43779351 #>>43790524 #
5. donnachangstein ◴[24 Apr 25 04:53 UTC] No.43779351[source]▶
I searched YouTube for actual evidence of Hurd booting to a desktop and only found two videos of Hurd freezing during boot, and a third video of RMS explaining to a very confused convention attendee that he's "never installed GNU slash lynn-ox" because he could just ask someone else to do it.

No videos of Hurd running Doom either, but anyone is welcome to create one and share.

replies(4): >>43779559 #>>43779947 #>>43781257 #>>43782873 #
6. gertop ◴[24 Apr 25 05:30 UTC] No.43779559{3}[source]▶
Hurd is for sure a failed project and it can't realistically run a modern desktop as claimed, but it's more capable than you give it credit for. For example, see:

https://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/

7. dxroshan ◴[24 Apr 25 06:56 UTC] No.43779947{3}[source]▶
The programming interface that Hurd provide is similar to that of any modern operating system. So, it can run pretty much any program that runs on Linux or BSD, but you have to port it. Doom is no exception. If you cannot find a video of Doom running on Hurd on YouTube, it doesn't mean that Hurd can't run Doom.

Hurd is sure not a successful project, but it is a capable operating system. Linux comes with a lot of device drivers for all sorts of hardware, so Linux nowadays can run almost everywhere. But that is not the case with Hurd because only a small number of people are contributing to this project and it is largely eclipsed by success of Linux. But it is an extensible system so if you want support for a hardware, you can develop a driver for it. But nobody is interested.

If you haven't seen Hurd running a desktop, I will introduce you to Debian Hurd (https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/18i6e94/de...). It is a Debian distribution with Hurd as the kernel instead of Linux. It comes with Xorg and you can install XFCE, OpenBox. Basically, you can install any desktop that render on CPU. Desktops like GNOME and KDE need more infrastructure. They relay on modern GPUs and uses direct rendering. In Linux, we have DRI and Mesa for this. As of now, Hurd doesn't have any such infrastructure. As I have already said before, a lot of people are contributing to Linux and only a handful of people are contributing to Hurd.

replies(1): >>43780557 #
8. fr4nkr ◴[24 Apr 25 07:23 UTC] No.43780080[source]▶
Hurd isn't exactly a useful project, but using Doom as the benchmark for the capability of an OS is a bit ridiculous.
replies(2): >>43780207 #>>43782561 #
9. UnmappedStack ◴[24 Apr 25 07:49 UTC] No.43780207[source]▶
Given that pregnancy tests can now run Doom, I have to agree with you. It was more of a symbolic thing than a technical difficulty at this point lol.
replies(1): >>43780435 #
10. saagarjha ◴[24 Apr 25 08:29 UTC] No.43780435{3}[source]▶
They can't, actually.
replies(1): >>43780444 #
11. UnmappedStack ◴[24 Apr 25 08:31 UTC] No.43780444{4}[source]▶
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33957256/this-prog...
replies(1): >>43780477 #
12. voxadam ◴[24 Apr 25 08:37 UTC] No.43780477{5}[source]▶
It runs on the screen of a pregnancy test, Doom is actually executed on an Arm Cortex M0+ based Adafruit Trinket.
replies(2): >>43780516 #>>43780538 #
13. ◴[24 Apr 25 08:44 UTC] No.43780516{6}[source]▶
14. mikehall314 ◴[24 Apr 25 08:47 UTC] No.43780538{6}[source]▶
You’re right. In fact it’s not even the screen - they replaced that too.
15. k__ ◴[24 Apr 25 08:50 UTC] No.43780557{4}[source]▶
If it can run nginx and node.js on a VPS it could be a nice alternative to Linux.
replies(1): >>43780678 #
16. shakna ◴[24 Apr 25 09:15 UTC] No.43780678{5}[source]▶
The current Debian/Hurd port of nginx is outdated, but runs fine.

There's been a few problems with nodejs, as libfuse compatibility isn't the latest yet. Some libraries work fine. Some explode. So you'll have to compile it yourself.

Python and Go, however, should run out of the box just fine.

17. blendergeek ◴[24 Apr 25 11:06 UTC] No.43781257{3}[source]▶
Its been a few years but I ran HURD in a VM and it ran a nice X Windowing system. Its been a few years though so I don't know what HURD is capable of today
18. notorandit ◴[24 Apr 25 13:34 UTC] No.43782561[source]▶
Why?
19. ◴[24 Apr 25 13:42 UTC] No.43782690[source]▶
20. anthk ◴[24 Apr 25 13:55 UTC] No.43782873{3}[source]▶
Youtube isn't an evidence of anything.

Set up yourself.

21. amszmidt ◴[25 Apr 25 05:52 UTC] No.43790524[source]▶
FWIW, GNU/Hurd has been able to run a desktop environment the last 20+ years.

And as someone who portedgor Doom working on GNU/Hurd decades ago … I’m going to wager that the GP has never used it. :-)