Show HN: My self-written hobby OS is finally running on my vintage IBM ThinkPad

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Enthusiasm, Motivation & Hobby Focus

  • Strong praise for the achievement of getting a self‑written OS with GUI running on real vintage hardware.
  • Many commenters say this is the kind of passion project they want to see on HN, contrasting it with commercial/AI-focused posts.
  • Several people mention being inspired to resume or start their own hobby OS or “personal computer” projects, emphasizing learning and fun over productization.
  • There’s admiration for sticking with a long-term side project and for writing as much as possible from scratch, including a C compiler.

Hardware Support & Performance

  • Runs on old laptops like eee PCs and ThinkPads; performance is “alright” given its simplicity, with more concern about bugs and missing hardware support than speed.
  • Interest in trying it on 386/486 machines and other older desktops. Some users successfully boot it on bare metal and report sluggish mouse behavior and memory reporting quirks.
  • Detailed feedback on the current boot/partition layout: kernel not part of the filesystem, reliance on certain sectors, and suggestions for making it more conventional and robust (MBR, FAT16 conventions, hidden sectors, relocatability).
  • Discussion of adding PCI, PCMCIA/CardBus, and WiFi support; WiFi is explicitly on the roadmap.

Platforms & Boot Times (Raspberry Pi, etc.)

  • Users ask about a Raspberry Pi port; current code is i386-only, so an ARM port would be needed.
  • Broader thread on non-Linux, minimal single-user OSes for fast booting on Pi; mentions that the VideoCore boot process imposes a few seconds minimum, with tradeoffs (e.g., losing USB input) for extreme fast-boot setups.
  • Other niche OSes (Haiku, RISC OS) are mentioned as related inspirations or alternatives.

UI, Fonts & Aesthetics

  • Multiple comments suggest the default bitmap font is too wide and wastes horizontal space; a narrower or 16×16 font is recommended.
  • Extended subthread on font engineering: monospace vs variable-width, combining characters, vector vs bitmap, and reuse of classic home-computer fonts.
  • Suggestions to support pluggable font formats so users can bring their own fonts.
  • Some light joking about HN nitpicking fonts in the face of an entire OS, but the criticism is generally constructive.
  • The author acknowledges UI design as a weak spot and expects to rewrite it again.

Design Philosophy, Language & Process

  • Origin story: project started after an operating systems class, as a more self-directed exploration.
  • The author would, in hindsight, plan more and reduce technical debt, and be less constrained by UNIX/POSIX toolchain assumptions, but still values C for kernel work.
  • Strong commitment to “copy ideas, not code” and to implementing components personally as a learning exercise.
  • Others argue that lack of a rigid plan can help maintain motivation and that technical debt is inevitable in growing systems.

Learning OS Development & Low-Level Details

  • Newcomers ask how to get into OS dev; the osdev.org forum and wiki are recommended.
  • One commenter outlines how to build an x86 disassembler and simple assembler, emphasizing that deep opcode knowledge is manageable if scope is limited.
  • There’s curiosity about the custom C compiler: it targets i386, uses interrupts for syscalls, currently supports only int/char and simple control flow, and adds struct-bound functions.