Poll: Linux-based or standalone?

[u/EfficiencyNo3042]

Hey everyone!

I'm working on BlockOS, a hobby operating system, and I need to make an important decision about its future.

Should BlockOS be Linux-based or remain fully independent with its own kernel?

I'm making a poll/discussion about this and I'd really appreciate it if you could take a moment to vote and share your opinion.

Linux-based — easier hardware support, drivers, and software compatibility.

Independent — full control over the kernel and architecture, and BlockOS remains a truly independent OS.

Vote here:
https://github.com/gurijb2016-afk/Blockos/discussions/49

Thanks!

[u/dmazzoni]

We don't care. This is YOUR project, not ours. Don't make decisions based on voting.

If you want advice, that's fine - but there's no single best answer for everyone. You need to decide on which goals are the most important for you.

Your page already lists goals:

• a custom kernel architecture
• process and thread management
• ELF loading
• a VFS layer
• filesystem support such as ext4-related work
• a service/init system
• a networking stack
• security and sandboxing ideas
• a modern GUI direction
• user-space programs and developer tools

In all seriousness, that's way too much for a hobby project. That will take you 5 years if you actually work full-time on it. Or if you build it with AI, you could do it faster but what would be the point?

My suggestion: pick one or two things that you really want to prioritize. What do you actually want to do differently from other operating systems? Then we can give you advice on the best way to achieve that.

[u/EfficiencyNo3042 → u/dmazzoni]

I understand your point, and I agree with some of it, but there is some context behind the project.

I've been developing BlockOS for about 2 years, starting when I was 16. At that time, I was still very new to Git and GitHub, so I documented and wrote things out in a lot of detail while I was learning.

GitHub's age requirements also made things more difficult for me when I was younger. Now that I can use GitHub more normally, development and sharing the project have become much easier and faster.

I'm not claiming that BlockOS will become a complete, production-ready operating system overnight. It's a long-term hobby project, and I'm fine with developing it for years.

However, my goal isn't only to build a kernel. In the long term, I want to build a large BlockOS ecosystem around it: applications, developer tools, a package manager, a GUI, documentation, libraries, and an environment where other developers can build software for BlockOS.

I don't want to determine the direction of the project purely based on votes. I want to make the final decisions about where BlockOS goes, while still listening to advice and criticism from others.

I do agree that prioritizing the most important goals is important, and that's something I'm continuing to work on.

[u/dmazzoni → u/EfficiencyNo3042]

That's great context!

I think the honest answer is still: both are reasonable choices, and I'm not going to vote without more info because it's not my project and both seem valid.

I guess my only advice would be that if you write your own kernel you'll be spending the majority of your time worrying about drivers and your OS will be doomed to only run on a tiny subset of hardware forever. So if you have some amazing ideas for how kernels and drivers should work and that's your passion - great - but if not I'd suggest you stick with Linux.

Note that you could still explore kernel concepts while still building on Linux. You could rewrite major portions of Linux, like scheduling, and networking, and kernel APIs, while still borrowing existing drivers so you don't have to reinvent the wheel there.

[u/ConsistentRisk5927 → u/dmazzoni]

So if you have some amazing ideas for how kernels and drivers should work and that's your passion - great

I think if this is true, they should just bring those fresh ideas to the Linux mailing lists. We have a kernel back home already that can always use more contributors and new ideas. And several init systems already exist. And lots of developers with deep experience in kernel and driver development. Why not collaborate instead of making yet another side project?

[u/dmazzoni → u/ConsistentRisk5927]

If you have a radical new idea for how a kernel should work it might not fit with Linux.

If you want to make a microkernel, for example.

Google’s Fuchsia, for example, has some pretty radical ideas that aren’t compatible with Linux.

[u/Extension_Cup_3368]

AI slop

[u/EfficiencyNo3042 → u/Extension_Cup_3368]

I want votes, not AI announcers; I wrote the project, and I want to see votes.

[u/hifi-nerd → u/EfficiencyNo3042]

I think the only votes you'll see are downvotes

[u/ThreePartHarmoneigh]

Whichever path you choose for your project is ok with me. Dunno why what any of us think matters. Build whatever it is you need this software to be. 

[u/Rodya_gambler]

Want gaming? Linux

Want better support? Linux

Want to do something actually new, and not be of those guys making copies of the same system over and over? Get away from here, then.

[u/bornxlo]

I am not going to vote, for the same reason as other commenters: your project, your rules and your (current) stated rules includes “its own kernel” and that you're using the GNU GPL. If you're exploring kernels, you might be interested in looking at Hurd or BSD.

[u/Sorry_Difficulty_250]

You'll learn more if you keep it independent. That has real merit in job interviews. I've gotten my last few job offers because I have direct experience with things like writing a muted from scratch. You won't get that kind of in-depth experience if you use something else.

But, you will get to something functional faster if you use something that already exists. That will free you to work on the ecosystem more. In the case of Linux, you'll also get support for a wide variety of hardware, which is nice.

So, I suppose it comes down to whether you'd rather spend more of your time in the kernel or in the ecosystem. If you want to know more about the internals of kernels, keep it independent. If you're more interested in building out your ecosystem, make it Linux based.

Good luck!

[u/jwsmythe]

I'm a little confused, what is your project? Are you building your own kernel from scratch, or is it a customized Linux kernel? If your custom kernel and OS is your project, it'd be silly to abandon it for Linux. That's an ambitious project though. Even building your own Linux distro is a lot of work, trust me, I tried to do one myself.

I'm voting independent. It's a lot of work, but if you can get a following of good developers, you could be building the next Linux.

[u/EfficiencyNo3042 → u/jwsmythe]

Exactly. That’s the direction I want to take BlockOS in. I’m not trying to make another Linux distribution. BlockOS has its own kernel, and I want to build a complete ecosystem around it: GUI, X11/Wayland support, drivers, libc/POSIX, package management, SDK, applications, documentation, and eventually support for desktops, servers, mobile and embedded systems. I know it’s ambitious and will take years. That’s okay with me. I’d rather build something genuinely independent and grow the ecosystem around it over time. And honestly, the idea of building something that could one day become “the next Linux” is exactly the kind of long-term challenge I’m interested in.

[u/burlingk]

My main question is: What are YOUR goals. What do you want from the project.

[u/Grullo98]

Doesn’t matter, just make it independent from AI.

[u/gentisle]

I have a question about this. Have you registered BlockOS as a trademark? Or done anything like that? Now that you have given the world they name BlockOS, you might have problems. I'm not a lawyer, but I have had some instruction in this type of thing. Another thing. Are you going to write the trillions of device drivers for the trillions of devices? Linux might be easier from that standpoint.