Announcing your OS to friends and familly

[onlyonemac]

Hi!

Well, it's not really announcing as such, but I'm just curious as to how you go about telling friends and familly about your OS, and at what stage in the devlopement process you do so.

I ask because my OS is getting to the stage where my mother would appreciate it, and despite having said that "I'm not writing an OS, I'm writing a floppy disk thingy" a few times, she's getting a little suspicious at my frequent referances to first reading floppies, then hardware multitasking then a text-mode GUI.

So what approach do you usually take?

Thanks,

onlyonemac

P.S. I understand that a lot of this is going to depend on the technical knowledge of the person involved as well.

[sortie]

I just said it. In fact, they are probably tired of hearing about it. They are unable to appreciate my efforts.

[onlyonemac]

What, like "I'm writing an OS, do you wanna come and see?". And how did they react? How advanced was your OS at the time?

[DavidCooper]

For the most part, it probably goes something like this:-

"Hi mum. Hi Dad."
"What have you come to see us for?"
"I've got something to tell you..."
"You're not toing to tell us you're gay, are you?"
"No, nothing like that! It's just that I'm writing an operating system."
"You're doing what! We were both hoping you were going to tell us you're gay, because at least if you were there'd still be some hope of us having grandchildren."

[bluemoon]

For the most part, it probably goes something like this:-

"Hi mum. Hi Dad."
"What have you come to see us for?"
"I've got something to tell you..."
"You're not toing to tell us you're gay, are you?"
"No, nothing like that! It's just that I'm writing an operating system."
"You're doing what! We were both hoping you were going to tell us you're gay, because at least if you were there'd still be some hope of us having grandchildren."

This is what your mum thinks when you tell her you working on an OS project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOtoujYOWw0 (Links to dilbert video)

[Bender]

NO.
1. Is your OS any use to them? No. Useless.
2. Are you going to be the next Bill Gates? Maybe? Uncertain.
3. What interesting features do you want to show off? File Management? The best VFS? No, but I'd like to see Unreal and CryEngine3 running. Can you? No.
4. Where do I click so that MS-Word opens up? Nowhere.
5. What did you do to my PC? Why isn't Windows showing up?
6. Son, you better focus on your grades.
7. This guy is insane.
8. Get a life man!
9. Lolwut?
10. Wow. I don't understand a single word of what you're saying. *walks away*
I prefer showing my other projects like my experiments with different gaming engines, or maybe some of my mods for different games.

[alexfru]

Bender, while all that makes a lot of sense in the context, if you take it a little broader, then there's no reason to try, to learn and probably to live! Let the kid play. It's what kids do. It's what they must do. An OS is a good toy, albeit still somewhat unconventional (though, I'm not sure the kids of the future will do this kind of stuff single-handedly in the first grade! ). Perhaps, the experience will still be useful, even if in somewhat subtle, non immediately apparent ways (e.g. actual on-hand programming skills, better logical reasoning, better ability to solve and workaround problems and deal with uncertainty, confidence, etc).

[Lionel]

G-guys, h-how am I gonna tell my parents that my OS's kernel is a ... hybrid kernel? There pure microkernel enthusiasts...

[neon]

I tend to define "operating system" more broadly to encompass all of the system software and its associated components as part of the "operating system." Under this definition, your floppy driver would be considered part of the OS and thus saying "I am writing an OS" will always suffice regardless of what part of it is being worked on.

My family and friends already know about my project; to be fair though, unless you know what goes into operating system design and implementation and general computer science issues; most people wouldn't know nor care about implementation details or operating system components; these are end users that should not even need to care. That is, "I am writing a floppy driver" is not an accomplishment to the end user and so saying it is futile and a waste of time.

[alexfru]

G-guys, h-how am I gonna tell my parents that my OS's kernel is a ... hybrid kernel? There pure microkernel enthusiasts...

A bi-curious kernel? Prepare for the worst. They may want to exorcize the endianness out of it!

[onlyonemac]

I tend to define "operating system" more broadly to encompass all of the system software and its associated components as part of the "operating system." Under this definition, your floppy driver would be considered part of the OS and thus saying "I am writing an OS" will always suffice regardless of what part of it is being worked on.

You've picked up on the wrong end of the stick. The story about the "floppy disk thingy" was to cover up, as I'm trying to keep the project more or less secret until I feel it will be appreciated.

In light of the latter point, mom's likely to appreciate this more than most mothers because she actually knows quite a lot of technical details about computers thanks to all my endless rambling.

[ggodw000]

i think nowadays for a single person or even a small team, the idea of promoting their OS to become social phenomenon is probably non-existent. This is not to say, you are incompetent, it is more like your project will not take off because general public (including your family members and friends) are mostly be ignorant and dumb. They got Windows and Android or whatever available and they want something easy to use, easily to acquire and lot of features and lot of bugs too. Those mainstream O/S has zillions of code with hundreds and thousands of developers contributed (and also messed up) for years, so it is hard to fathom even comning close to it in terms of sheer size and scale.

Just imagine how much work, time and resources involves in being able to say? Hey, here is my O/S, it can run latest Fallout 4 better than Windows

So promoting your O/S I think involves more than just writing a code quality code, it should encompass things like strategy put yours on more people,i.e. marketing tactics and that is another area on its own. just my 2cents.

[iansjack]

You think that it is "ignorant and dumb" to want something easy to use, easy to acquire, and with lots of features?

[BrightLight]

I'd only show my OS to someone who understands how much effort it takes. My family and friends and mostly ignorant to that, and will be disappointed as I don't have a GUI, wi-fi support, movie player, 3D games, etc...

[max]

I just said it. In fact, they are probably tired of hearing about it. They are unable to appreciate my efforts.

This lol. Mom is like, "What can it do?". Well, hard to explain