OS Dev Project

A learning experience working with OS development from the ground up on x86 architecture.

Contents:

|- src
|   |- boot.asm      # The x86 assembler source of the bootloader segment
|   |- main.rs       # The Rust source of the kernel
|- build.sh          # A shell script that builds the bootloader to bin/boot.bin
|- run.sh            # A shell script to run the bootloader in QEMU

What? Why?

Why would anyone want to make an operating system from scratch? Doesn't that take hundreds of engineers?

Well, yes and no. Early operating systems like DOS and Unix were actually not as complicated as one might think. I find it quite fascinating to follow in the footsteps of some of those early hackers who laid the foundations for the behemoths that we run from day to day.

I have no intentions of trying to replace Windows or Linux, however in the same way that a "todos" app can help with both broadening and deepening an individual's understanding of a framework or language, I believe that understanding modern PCs at a fundamental level makes for better decisions and problem solving skills when it comes to more practical endeavors.

Requirements

A Linux-based host environment is highly recommended. In addition, the following tools will need to be installed to go about building and running the project:

• Netwide Assembler (nasm) or a syntax compatible assembler
• QEMU, another x86 emulator capable of loading a raw binary file, or a PC you really don't need
• RustC, Cargo, and RustUp

Building and running

The simplest way to get started is:

./build.sh && ./run.sh

To build the kernel:

cargo bootimage --release

And then run it with:

qemu-system-x86_64 -drive format=raw,file=target/x86_64-tos/release/bootimage-tos.bin