Ok, this really makes me want to slap some people.
Yes, you CAN make an OS in qb
an OS is simply an operating system - or a way of running commands, which QB can definately do. If you are refering to something the computer can mainly boot up in, that is impossible in qb.
So, i don't want to hear "STFU, n00bz" - give them credit for wanting to try something, but do make it clear that they can't make anything that will be able to boot from startup
Oz~
Actually, an OS in the most often used definition(the one that means Windows 3.1 is simply a shell) includes a bootloader and all the important supporting code to handle memory, task, and disk management.
I've considered putting the time into making an actual QBOS to kill off detractors of the language, but in reality, the "QB" OS would in the end be more pure assembler than QuickBasic.
I've been trying to say that for a long time, noone listens.
Windows 9x arent OSs according to them.
Neither is anything, except the 512 bytes on the first cycle of the HD.
but wait!
The only os must be the biOS!
Hmm.. it depends on the chip though...
So I guess the only OS that can ever be built is electricity?
Wait, no.. that would be something that generate electricity.. lets go for wind now...
Wind is generated by heating air..
So uhm... the sun?
Which is a giant burning ball of gas
So, fission/fusion?
Hm, nope, atoms?
Nope..
The thing that binds all matter?
Nah...
Conclusion: There is no OS, nor spoon for that matter.
Windows 95 is mostly a shell too.
An OS has to actually operate something, not just be an overlay over the existing DOS infastructure.
According to Andy Tanenbaum (read God) an operating system does two things, extends the machine and manages resources. An operating system extends the machine by providing some sort of higher level access or apis to make interfacing with the various hardware components easier. It manages resources by providing controlled access to each of the different devices that make up the computer.
Technically an operating system doesn't need to bootstrap the machine, or even run on real hardware, User Mode Linux or Windows running under VMWare are both still operating systems, however it is often accepted that the operating system is the first thing that the machine runs and that everything else is controlled by it.
Quote:Windows 9x arent OSs according to them.
The problem with Win9x is that it isn't responsible for bootstraping the machine, DOS is. DOS is also responsible for all the device and memory management until Win9x kicks in, even after the Win9x kernel proper has started, DOS is still there doing some of the work. Win9x is still classified as an operating system under Tanenbaum's definition though.
Quote:I've considered putting the time into making an actual QBOS to kill off detractors of the language, but in reality, the "QB" OS would in the end be more pure assembler than QuickBasic.
The problem with using QB to make an operating system is that QB generates code that relies on DOS being there. When you write an operating system in C for example, you don't even have access to the standard C library. If you need functions like printf or strcpy, you write your own.
Nobody yet seems to have even written a decent operating system simulator in QB. There have been plenty of fantasic guis/shells and scripting engines capable of running multiple scripts concurrently, but I haven't seen anything yet that simulates basic memory management or provides interprocess communication between scripts with locking mechanisms such as mutexes and semaphores, which are the things you tend to learn about in University operating system courses.
LC, that's probably because no one who's ever done a mockup QB OS has ever taken a university course on the subject. And if they did, they sure as hell wouldn't try writing one in QB, now would they? :lol:
Novix had memory management
Inter thread communication
etc
Though, it was slow as hell, and got boring after a while.
Theres no downloads on the novix page anymore.
If someone really wants it they can PM me. But I promisse, it's nothing interessting.
Quote:...Andy Tanenbaum....
Damn! That guy is everywhere! :lol:
Anyway, I like your explanation of a "real" OS. But I would like to add my little definition:
OS(according to a QB programmer): It is a fancy GUI which "seems" to be a OS :roll:
