the empty calorie

I myself, would like to create a new operating system that you load from a disk, and using this idea i put together for a new kind of command-line interface unlike anything I've ever seen before. It would have very little, if any, resemblance to UNIX or MS-DOS in terms of commands and such. It would have support for networking, multiple users, true multitasking, memory protection, the aim is to make something with stability parallel to UNIX, but something that can entirely fit on a floppy disk, (with a USB-key also being an alternative option). I'm guessing the best thing would be to build this from assembly language, although, the only assembly language i know to any degree (which isn't too much) is 6502 assembly language, and as far as I know, you can't write operating systems in BASIC. I'm guessing I'd be stuck with 80386 assembly...As far as a kernel, it would most likely use a monokernel, although I have considered using Mach, but I'm not sure..Would anyone use an advanced disk operating system like this?

I myself use ksh... but commonly, most of the shell depends on what you're trying to do. Here are the commands I can list off the top of my head, I hope it helps.ls = list files in current directorycd = change directorymkdir = make new directoryrm = removemv = move, but can also be used as a tool to rename fileschmod = change permissions on a filelocate = used to find filesNow, when you're referring to files, say, you want to execute a file in the current directory, you must type ./ and then the filename to let it know you want the current directory...if you're using the cd command, to go to the directory above, use "cd .."you might want to search google for a list of unix commands, but this will get you started.

I've been toying with the idea of making my very own alternative OS that is used from a floppy disk..What's a good way to go about this? (other than learning C)

Hear those crickets? Yeah, me too.

Okay, I am wanting to create a webserver on an x86 (or PPC) machine running Darwin.I have never made a webserver before, how would I go about this?

(Sorry about double post, once again, an EDIT button would be great here!)MEPIS will most likely do the same thing too. It WILL wipe your drives to put on a Linux filesystem, if installing it is what you want to do. If it didn't, your installation would go nowhere, and before Ubuntu formatted your drives, it said so in plain english on the screen, right before you told it "YES". Never underestimate the power of READING!

Okay Jguy, listen. ANY OS INSTALLER WILL WIPE YOUR DRIVES!!! Yes, even Windows. This is NOT a problem with Ubuntu! If you think this is a problem, then it's always going to happen. You should know how to back up the data you need. Oh man...just go back to Windows, really, before you hurt yourself.

Yup. VLC is the way to go. And it's a fat binary too, so Intel and PowerPC users alike can use it!

I use Audacity for editing sounds themselves, but for more simple editing like cropping and such, I just use Quicktime because it puts less stress on the computer. I also use Quicktime to record vocals. I don't know if you are trying to, but I use easy beat to do all my MIDI work. The free version is okay unless you want to edit things over two weeks old, or over like 12 measures or somewhere around there, but as most of mine are one-off, four to eight measure hiphop beat loops (which I export and throw into audacity). I really can't wait to pick up Logic Pro, Garageband, and Reason...Warning: Most of what I've mentioned are Macintosh programs.

I have a few spare computers..I'll have to try this sometime. Thanks for the tip!

I would actually recommend installing Debian. Assuming this computer has a network connection, I would use a network install disc, and just have it install the base system, then just apt-get your way to getting Xorg, and WindowMaker, and maybe even Login.app to match with it. You can really mold debian intowhatever you wish and nothing more by using net-install to get the base system, and then just apt-get whatever you need after that. It will save you plenty of space. I would use the 8G drive to boot from, and keep system files on, then use an ext2 partition on the entire 40G drive and mount it as /home, since I'm guessing that's where you'd keep your files. If not, maybe mount it as /media and put /home on the 8g. Actually, I would do that..I think I will...thanks for the idea!

Okay. I have used intel processors dating back to the 8088. My 8088 machine (an IBM PC-5150) Hasn't had a burnt chip. Nor has my 486, Pentium-S, or any Intel processor I've had. I've had a few AMDs and Cyrixes as well...The AMDs would be lucky still be running 3 years after their purchase. The Cyrixes lasted close to 6 or 7. Not a single Intel chip has died on me. Nor has a Motorola, Zilog, IBM, or a MOS chip. When I buy or build a computer, I expect it to last a while. Intel has always managed to please me there. Oh, and by the way, AMD processors have at least twice as many errors per clock cycle as intel processors.

Hands down, the Terminal is my favourite application on here. Anything I want done, I can do from there. Before I used OS X, I religiously used OpenBSD. typically, I close the finder and use the terminal and the dock to get to whatever I need. But, other than the terminal...I use nano as my text editor. I like it simple. I like to have no need for a mouse when I type. It just gets in my way. I use iChat. I have adium, but I have gotten really used to the "bubble" format of iChat. Safari is my browser of choice, but for what I can't to in safari, I have Deer Park. iTunes is the music player of choice, but VLC i use for playing my movies. What else do I use...I used Tinkertool to try and make the default system font Chicago, or whatever they changed the name of it to, and found out I can't make the menu bar change fonts. I'd happily use Basilisk II, but it's not ported to x86 yet, and it crashes when you try running it with Rosetta. Oh yes, and for making my music, I use easy beat, audacity, and quicktime (to record vocal tracks). Now i just need to wait for Basilisk II to be ported to OS X/intel so I can use System 7 and MacPaint, buy a real Intel Mac, and then I'll be golden :mellow:Oh, and who can forget the dashboard? So handy..

Well, I started off with a boxed copy of Red Hat 7.0 I bought in a store, but I didn't learn too much from it...not to mention RPM is the most confusing format of installing programs that I have ever worked with. I later ugraded to 7.1, only to find it didn't get any better. When I really started learning, in when I jumped in the deep end and downloaded the slackware install CD images. I went with slackware because it was the most UNIX-like linux distribution, and I didn't want to learn to use "Red Hat" "SuSE" or "KDE" or "GNOME", I wanted to learn UNIX in raw form. So I dove into slackware, compiling my software from source code (which is actually simpler than the "simple" RPM), and man pages...don't even forget the man pages. And us. We fellow *NIX users, despite whether we use Linux, BSD, System V/Solaris, AIX, Mac OS X/Darwin, it doesn't matter. We all help each other. Just don't be afraid of keyboards or terminals...they're your friend.you can PM me if you need any more help. I, along with many others on here are willing to help you with this. And when you do install your first *NIX distro, good luck, and don't forget to enjoy it!

No, BeOS is BeOS. Not Windows. Most programs you would want to use exists, but you have to find alternatives, like using VLC instead of say, Windows Media Player.

I have used many, many operating systems. More than most computer users these days. I have used CP/M, MP/M, Apple DOS 3.3, MS-DOS, DR-DOS, AmigaOS, TOS, Macintosh System 6 and 7, Mac OS 8-10.4(Intel). BeOS, Linux, System V, and BSD. and Also, I have used Windows 1.0-XP.First off, out of all of those, Windows, hands down, is the worst one I have ever experienced. Why? Well, Yes, Microsoft does steal other people's ideas...or buys them. Also, once Microsoft has done that, they do a horrible job at implementing whatever the feature is. Even features of their own (like the infamous Close, Ignore box)...You ever notice the only button that has ever, and still to this day, worked is the "Close" one? Go through Windows sometime, and look at how many flaws you find like this. Like those corners that are supposed to start or prevent the screensaver? Those have never worked as far as I've seen. Doesn't this kind of make you wonder what kind of programmers are writing this software? I've seen "unstable" builds of OS'es that are more finished than the retail version of Windows, and more stable!Think of it this way...Would you buy a car that had a wheel fall off every fifteen miles? It may have many accessories, and lots of people may have them, but would you buy something that had that risk?

Hahaha...you know what they're doing, right? Haven't you heard about the "usage" charge they're putting in place for Windows? You will have to keep paying to be able to use it! And you laugh at *NIX users for what??? Let's see...500 bucks for the crappy new Windows...or I can download debian, or someting else that performs better, for nothing! 500 bucks for a copy of Windows...when something more stable and secure costs nothing. You guys are suckers...

All linux distros are not free. Red Hat is not free. SuSE is not free. Yellow Dog is not free.And to tell you the truth, UNIX I prefer over linux generally. Like Mac OS X.

If I were you, I'd go with OpenBSD or Debian Linux. But don't ever forget that compiling a program is usually just as easy as ./configure, make, make install, in most cases. But what are you trying to run a server for?

You could probably find a much better Linux system out there. Ugh, I get sick of all these Linux distros. The only ones we really need are Debian, Slackware, and Gentoo...of course, LFS as well, but that is not a distro, it is a book on how to create your own Linux.

Well, it's not only that. While I must say you have been quite lucky, to a degree, it is also the user as well. I started using Windows in 1989, and back then, there were few problems with it. Keep in mind, back then, Windows was not an OS. It was only a Graphical Interface, with it's underlying operating system, MS-DOS, well, right under it. Windows 3x would give me a share of BSOD messages, but not nearly as much as after Windows 95 came around. As the years progressed, it just got worse. I have observed myself, that Windows has just gotten worse in terms of reliability over the years. Back when Windows was separate from the OS, it worked great, most of the time. Now, it is so unstable that I refuse to use it. I went back and forth between Windows 2000 and Slackware Linux for a few years, until I put the Windows 2000 disk in the trash, where it belongs. (Along with that XP disk I threw out two years ago). Windows, as I have used it, is purely just way too unstable for my uses. Kind of an easy call when after a month, you end up wiing your drives and putting on linux, then a year later, you try windows for another month, and the same thing happens. I'd have to say you are quite lucky indeed, for a Windows user. As long as you don't expect everything to "just work".

Well, I really see no reason to overclock...as as for using the computer in 10 years??? I have plenty of computers i still use that are ten years old, and I'm bloody stoked that they still run! With the speeds of processors these days, I see no real reason to overclock, of course, if you wish to, go right ahead. I OC'ed my AMD AXP 2200+ from 1.8 to just under 2.0 GHz, and I saw little to no improvement that actually made a difference. Yes, the numbers changed, but nothing really performed better. It was fast enough to begin with.

Whoa....so now we can't even download their stuff to use through WINE? So basically, this is Microsoft taking their nomally free products, all of a sudden calling it $450-something worth of free software, and....iirgh. This is stupid. I don't use any of their software, but for people that like to use WINE, that is absolutely ridiculous!

My Workstation:1710MHz Pentium IV-478Intel D850MV Motherboard256M RDRAM6.5G Primary HD37.4G Secondary HD16X DVD+RWSound Blaster 128 PCIATi Xpert2000+ (Rage 128GL) 32MMac OS X 10.4.1Such a good computer still to this day.

Oh wow...you guys must really be in the dark. PS3 will be the way to go. Why? IBM has their fingers in it....And while the xbox 360 will use IBM PowerPC technology, Sony will be using IBM's next-up technology, the Cell processor. Sony will definetely have the hardware advantage over the xbox 360. I'm not too sure about revolution, I haven't heard much about it. I'm not much of a gamer...but I am dying to see what exactly Cell can do...it's supposed to be the next technology that will change computers drastically different than as we know them now.