Talk:Esoteric Operating System

I think this OS should aim the Processor/1 platform.--Sigfb05 21:43, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I could implement a brainfuck runtime for the platform, so Brainfuck could be the system programming language of choice...--Sigfb05 00:57, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

I am working on tiny modular multitasking OS kernel on assembly (Currently boots, loads kernel and can run one user program at a time. TTY/Disk IO supported). Should I/we/some one copy the discussion on Talk:Main_Page to here? --EzoLang 22:10, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The best place to discuss such things would be Esolang talk:Community portal; discussions shouldn't go in article-space, and talk pages are for discussion of articles. Feel free to move the old discussion there if you wish, though it looks like not much of it would still be erlevant to me. —ehird 22:40, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

I am working on the low-level complicated (almost esoteric) Basic Input/Output Commander which I wrote as a programming language for writing esoteric programming interpreters and maybe a few operating systems. Maybe you can use the currently-unused Basic Input/Output Commander for writing esos and include AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! (.aaa), CPL (.cpli), FALSE (.fls), Brainfuck (.bf), Unlambda (.ulm), Underload (.udl), etc. runtimes for esos. --202.156.14.10 03:08, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Those file extensions are rather non-standard; FALSE's file extension is .f, brainfuck's is .b (.bf is taken by Befunge-93), Unlambda's is .unl, and Underload's is .ul. —ehird 21:04, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Can Basic Input/Output Commander call assembly code any way? I kinda need it for device drivers. --EzoLang 21:17, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The devices listed on the page about that language are only the standards that I thought of. Different implementations have different devices to communicate with using numbers, so write your own implementation with the devices you need. Which device drivers do you need anyway? --202.156.14.10 09:46, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Terminal IO (keyboard and screen/serial tty), Disk IO and things like PIT and interrupt system --EzoLang 13:25, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Should the kernel of esoos be programmed in some esoteric language or in some "traditional" language? --EzoLang 23:10, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe something like Checkout. —Maharba 04:27, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

I guess there is no point in any such esoOS, but in case there is, I give some thoughts:

Maybe "esoteric linux distribution"? Certainly no point in trying to compete with linux.

Computer platform should be just one, maybe the simplest and cheapest actual computer in the world, whatever that is. Its i/o could be as minimal as 1 usb port, 1 button and 1 LED. Such computer would have to be controlled with another computer. It could work so that when unplugged from that another bigger computer, it continues its computation until led flashes, indicating termination. I don't know whether such computer exists.

Could this be one possibility: replacing "OS" in some digital camera. Canon etc. might even give some help in that...
 * I don't think an esoteric system would need to compete with any other systems. It's not like esoteric languages are intended to compete with regular languages, why would an esoteric operating system be different? It would be nice for it work on some kind of virtual machine, though, or otherwise something you could try out without buying a special computer just for it.--MDude (talk) 01:47, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

section here also:

List_of_ideas

My Linux kernel binary is 3,9 megabytes big. The kernel has been expanding gradually over 2 decades, adapting to new tech and otherwise improving by implementing new ideas. Just theoretically it seems plausible that it has lots of historical baggage and bloat, so maybe a "reboot" of OS design is needed... Probably it can be done in a way that most linux applications are usable in it, without emulator.

Tektur (talk) 07:51, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Narrow purpose, if any
Being able to boot usb memory stick and do anything at all, like print "hello world" or eject cd, with own code or code that can be understood completely, would be interesting. Just explaining how it can be done, and showing the source code and binary would be enlightening. "World's smallest operating system" or "the smallest operating system on Earth", would be a good headline on a blog.

If goal is higher, there should be 1 narrow purpose. What could it be? Handling esolangs is best done by application in linux, because, for example, there would be need to use web browser to get info related to programming, while programming.

Is any significant performance increase or other kind of improvement possible if and because number of processes is just 1 or 2?

Performance increase might be significant only if the computer is small enough.


 * Some kind of server without any user interface, just controlled via usb or ethernet like a printer?


 * OS meant to be used virtualized with proper OS, just observing how the computer works?


 * OS for showing pictures and text, for turning computer to a digital frame?


 * OS for turning computer to a telephone?


 * OS for testing hardware?


 * Use of firewire port's direct ram access in some special way?

I think the following is really outlandish, mainly just meant to inspire better ideas:


 * Bootloader that allows to load kernel etc. via microphone or line-in, with some acoustic transmission protocol. Very slow.


 * Bootloader that allows to type text string in easily typed format, like numbers and lower case letters, that encode some block of machine code in a compressed format. Very very slow.

Tektur (talk) 11:42, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

What do I mean by linux application that handles esolangs better than esoOS would?

If some eso programs are compiled so that they run as processes, and they need to communicate with each other and with some programs that are interpreted and running on interpreter processes, one linux software can handle communication between all of them and disk.

Tektur (talk) 12:48, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Possible tiny computers for some kind of esoOS

 * Some old, connectionless cell phone or smart phone


 * Digital camera


 * Wrist "watch" with a touch screen and computer


 * Device that transfers data between 2 or more memory sticks, when only interface are some configuration files in the root directories of those sticks.


 * Raspberry pi

Tektur (talk) 01:29, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

Move this to make room for a more accurate page
I move that we move this page to a page such as "EsOS" or "EsoOS" to make room for this page to be about Esoteric Operating Systems in general, as opposed to about one particular OS. Any objections? Hppavilion1 (talk) 07:33, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

EsOS file system
I think that the EsOS file system should be based on a nonstandard data structure, instead of the classic tree (on mac/windows/unix) or list (on old DOS systems). I'm currently watching a video on Esoteric Data Structures and I will tell you guys if I see a good one. Hppavilion1 (talk) 07:33, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

I've been digging around myself quite some time to find some good candidates, and I would like to suggest the quad-tree, a kind of data tree sometimes seen in the collision detection phase of two-dimensional physics engines. Think of the file system of a giant square grid where when you create a folder, it creates a new node inside the tree, making a small square in the empty space. From there, if a sub folder is created, you take the square and divided it in 4; one of those squares is your new sub folder. This process can be repeated indefinitely, adding new folders, sub folders and files. The one limitation, of course, is that one node can only have up to four children. However, this does highlight some advantages over the traditional file systems. Firstly, the tree is compatible with most standard path notations, because it's still a tree, where each level can be split with a special character when denoted in code, e.g. using the slash or backslash. Furthermore, this system comes in handy when doing a visual search: you could, for instance, raycast for a specific file or folder within your computer using your mouse, if you hovered over their software representation. Equally important feature here would be surveying the files like a map, with zooming and panning over them in a file explorer. Basically, the quad-tree is a possibility to consider when making an EsoOS. Xav737 (talk) 21:02, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Making one
Although I'm using python, I am making an EsOS called "WalrusOS" now. Still working on the "Eso" part though.