OSDeving like Eleanore Semaphore

[mystran]

I thought I'd browse the new OS-FAQ Wiki, and stumbled upon the "What order should I make things in?"-page and noticed that nobody's dared to create the "like Eleanore" page. Is that correct?

So I figured I could create a page for that... but then couldn't come up with a good page. So if someone would like to throw a few ideas of what they feel should be contained there, I would be much more confident in writing an entry.

Not that I really want to write that entry. Just that I though I could come up with something, if nobody else feels like it. Alternatively, if somebody wants to collaborate, that is also possible.

[Pype.Clicker]

yep, you kinda finely captured Eleanore's way. Actually, she has learned (in books, etc) what is in a real-world OS. She saw the Big Picture, just as you said and tried to get as low as possible finding out which component can be built from scratch and then which component will require which other one.

No hack is allowed with eleanore: every piece perfectly fits the puzzle, every layer is defined and the progression occurs step by step.

[dh]

I'd say she probably has every book on the subject, printouts of various components of her os and others.

Cheers, DH.

[Candy]

I'd say she probably has every book on the subject, printouts of various components of her os and others.

Cheers, DH.

*looks around* never knew my name was Eleanore ... Seriously, I do think it's one of the better ways to do OSdev.

Oh, and not every book is here... just the ones I consider important, which is more books for OSdev than for my education.

[distantvoices]

Oh, hi, Eleanore! Have I already mentioned that you look HOT? *mmmmhhhhh*

*chuckle* couldn't withstand.

But Would I qualify as eleanore too? Have a dozen of related books around here too. *gg* Well - those which I consider important.

[Candy]

Oh, hi, Eleanore! Have I already mentioned that you look HOT? *mmmmhhhhh*

*chuckle* couldn't withstand.

But Would I qualify as eleanore too? Have a dozen of related books around here too. *gg* Well - those which I consider important.

*counting* 17, from which 9 from AMD or Intel (for free, that is), one from the library and one folklore (just for fun from Linus)

[Colonel Kernel]

I guess I'm an Eleanore too. I haven't counted my OS book collection lately, but it's pretty substantial.

Actually, she has learned (in books, etc) what is in a real-world OS. She saw the Big Picture, just as you said and tried to get as low as possible finding out which component can be built from scratch and then which component will require which other one.

Sometimes I see so much Big Picture, I forget what the small picture looks like. I have exactly that problem figuring out what order to make things in... what will depend on what, etc. I've also had a hard time naming things... anyone have a synonym for "Hardware Abstraction Layer"?

<edit>
Ok, for those of us who are male, maybe "Rex Mutex" would be a better name.
</edit>

[Candy]

Sometimes I see so much Big Picture, I forget what the small picture looks like. I have exactly that problem figuring out what order to make things in... what will depend on what, etc. I've also had a hard time naming things... anyone have a synonym for "Hardware Abstraction Layer"?

GZK? <- HAL -> IBM? JCN?

[dh]

Eleanore?? OMG! I'm not a girl! We got ourselves a gender confusion thing going on!

Just kidding. Let's see (all libary): The PC programmers bible, Modern Operating Systems 2/e, and soon a copy of Operating system; design and implamatation..... that's it ;P When I get a job, I'll probably buy some more.

As for printouts, I just have a terminal with 1 dozen tabs with various kernel files open (I got linux-2.6 and Clicker32-0.8.18 and 0.8.19 and some various misc. tools which are there just in case) to read. If i could find a dot matrix and some paper for it (+ ink) at a good price (i havn't looked too much) I would probably print out the stuff for easy reading.
(Moral of the story, you can't have everything)

[mystran]

Personally, I find most of the book for the subject lacking; they scratch the surface of something and then leave you wondering whether there's some real meat in there. There fore I avoid buying a lot of books.

Instead, I generally try to read them in a library, see if there's something I already didn't know, and take notes of whatever interesting papers they might refer to. Then I go see if I can find the papers from either the web or libraries. (Having ACM access helps too, and my school has so it won't cost me anything.)

I see three advantages for this:
+ it's quite a bit cheaper
+ it gets me closer to the origins of ideas
+ I can also buy a book, or print a PDF if something I see seems worth a physical copy.

Disadvantages? Yeah:
+ sometimes you know what you need, but can't find it anywhere (in which case you need to buy it anyway)
+ lots of research papers are somewhat harder to keep in "order" than a single (or few) books would be

Finally, I have to admit that I do own a few books actually, and I'm considering to buy a few more.