Modern Open Source OS Projects

[owensdj]

I was wondering if there are any open source operating system projects that are creating the OS "from scratch" rather than rehashing a 70's OS like the Linux/*BSD efforts are doing? I think a new OS that took the best ideas from both UNIX-like OSs and MS Windows and combined that with features that addressed modern issues would be very popular.

End users want something that's easy to install, easy to fix when things break, and not bloated with legacy considerations.

 

[lxskllr]

End users want something that's easy to install, easy to fix when things break, and not bloated with legacy considerations.

That's Linux.

I don't see any point in another O/S, especially one that's less mainstream than Linux or BSD. You can make Linux into anything you want, and it's even supported by some 3rd party devs. A whole new O/S won't be compatible with anything, and it'll have zero support outside it's distribution. There's no point in reinventing the wheel. Every conceivable niche is filled by the O/Ss that are already in existence.

 

[Broheim]

the linux kernel is continuesly updated, the darwin kernel (Mac OS) is opensource and so on... honestly what would be the point of creating a new kernel that is not POSIX compliant and miss out on years of opensource projects and development?

many linux distros are easy to install, they're easy to fix when something goes wrong because the OS doesn't fight you every step of the way, and the OS is only as bloated as the distro you choose.

 

[Nothinman]

I think a new OS that took the best ideas from both UNIX-like OSs and MS Windows and combined that with features that addressed modern issues would be very popular.

Only if it could perfectly run all existing Linux and Windows software, which is pretty much impossible. Just look at WINE for how much of a PITA it is to handle every single quirk and bug in Windows that apps rely upon.

But what would be the point? Linux already meets all of your criteria for what end users want and has a huge, established, tested and supported list of software. The real issue is that people are scared of change so they stick with Windows. Phone and tablets running iOS and Android are changing this to an extent, but not on the PC desktop.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

End users want something that's easy to install, easy to fix when things break, and not bloated with legacy considerations.

Only the "easy to fix when things break" part is true, and even that's qualified. End users don't want something that's easy to install - they want to not have to install it. An easy install is still one install too many.

"Not bloated with legacy considerations" is a polite euphemism for "None of my old software works" - which is pretty much the exact opposite of what end users want.

And while they'd certainly prefer things to be easy to fix when they break, they'd actually rather it not break in the first place.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Only if it could perfectly run all existing Linux and Windows software, which is pretty much impossible. Just look at WINE for how much of a PITA it is to handle every single quirk and bug in Windows that apps rely upon.

But what would be the point? Linux already meets all of your criteria for what end users want and has a huge, established, tested and supported list of software. The real issue is that people are scared of change so they stick with Windows. Phone and tablets running iOS and Android are changing this to an extent, but not on the PC desktop.

The big drawback for me is a lot of the CAD & engineering programs I use don't work in linux. I've toyed with some distro's in the past, but once I got it all set up I found myself having to boot into windows to do anything productive.

 

[Nothinman]

The big drawback for me is a lot of the CAD & engineering programs I use don't work in linux. I've toyed with some distro's in the past, but once I got it all set up I found myself having to boot into windows to do anything productive.

Yea, if you have a specialized app that only runs on one OS then you have no choice unless you can get it to run in WINE or a virtualization platform like KVM, VMware or VirtualBox.