Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Ubuntu Switch and Prima
The switch went well. I can pretty much do everything I did with Windows, and then some. It is especially nice to have a POSIX environment. Don't get me wrong. Cygwin is very good, but slower than Linux and subject to the arcane Microsoft ways, especially when it comes to drive mapping and security.
Once settled in, I modified the Prima build environment to include Linux. It had all the hooks in place. I just never finished the work. Now that Linux is on the laptop, it was convenient to do. Besides, the old "server" has to go anyway so I don't want to go sit in the computer room to work on it.
If there is any demand, I'll post the changes. My next step is to add some real device drivers. Again, I'll publish the work if there is any demand. After that, I'll finally attack the API. There may be some surprises.
Once settled in, I modified the Prima build environment to include Linux. It had all the hooks in place. I just never finished the work. Now that Linux is on the laptop, it was convenient to do. Besides, the old "server" has to go anyway so I don't want to go sit in the computer room to work on it.
If there is any demand, I'll post the changes. My next step is to add some real device drivers. Again, I'll publish the work if there is any demand. After that, I'll finally attack the API. There may be some surprises.
# posted by Pat Villani @ 4:27 AM 
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Good to hear you are back on track with Prima. I am really interested to see what you are planning to do with Prima, is it going to be something very, very different from DOS-C.
# posted by 
: June 11, 2008 5:03 AM
: June 11, 2008 5:03 AM
Yes it is. I had a hard time pinning down the target because I didn't want this to become yet another toy operating system. With a POSIX API, I can grab almost any open source app and port it. The same can't be said of DOS applications, especially without support of the authors.
Anyway, I started adding a VFS layer last night. That's something I always wanted in DOS-C, but was constrained to using MS-DOS standards for compatibility. More later.
Anyway, I started adding a VFS layer last night. That's something I always wanted in DOS-C, but was constrained to using MS-DOS standards for compatibility. More later.
I also made the switch to Ubuntu on one of my laptops. Now, I was finally able to download the the Prima .zip file, but after inspection it looks like DOS-C code. Just wondering if you have some instructions as to how to compile all that while using Ubuntu?
I spent some time earlier trying to get a version of linux on to a 1M flash drive with no success, wondering if anybody is looking at, or has already put Prima on a flash drive?
I spent some time earlier trying to get a version of linux on to a 1M flash drive with no success, wondering if anybody is looking at, or has already put Prima on a flash drive?
# posted by : June 14, 2008 5:52 AM
: June 14, 2008 5:52 AM
Well, the proof of concept was pretty much that -- could I revive an old unit test version of DOS-C and compile it using newer versions of gcc. So, yep, it's old DOS-C with minor changes. Although, not so minor with respect to the 32-bit start up code. That's a rewrite of the original gas stuff in nasm, with some other paging stuff in there. Remember, I'm changing the memory reference model.
The newer one is still the same source, but with changes to the make system in order to compile on Linux. I also renamed the f_node to inode, in honor of posix, and threw in a VFS member. I stopped there because I need to put together some real device drives first. I have something I'm playing with, but not integrated into Prima/DOS-C yet.
As for has anyone else done anything, not yet. I'm the only one working on this, and I have to stop now for about a month in order to finish a course and get my PMP certification. I'll see about publishing what I have first.
By the way, the fact that it is DOS-C code running 32-bit is rather satisfying to my ego, because it was originally designed to be portable. Back then, this was uncommon. Your statement "but after inspection it looks like DOS-C code" is a complement.
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The newer one is still the same source, but with changes to the make system in order to compile on Linux. I also renamed the f_node to inode, in honor of posix, and threw in a VFS member. I stopped there because I need to put together some real device drives first. I have something I'm playing with, but not integrated into Prima/DOS-C yet.
As for has anyone else done anything, not yet. I'm the only one working on this, and I have to stop now for about a month in order to finish a course and get my PMP certification. I'll see about publishing what I have first.
By the way, the fact that it is DOS-C code running 32-bit is rather satisfying to my ego, because it was originally designed to be portable. Back then, this was uncommon. Your statement "but after inspection it looks like DOS-C code" is a complement.
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