IA-32
Intel 32-bit architecture
handle
Integer number which identifies a kernel object in user mode
process
Contains an address space and a handle table. Each thread runs within one process's address space.
Video Electronics Standards Association
Defines the VESA BIOS Extension, a software interface for SuperVGA cards
console server
Provides access to the display and keyboard for character applications
free list
Kernel: List of pages which have been freed but not yet zeroed
zero list
Kernel: List of pages which have been zeroed and are available for allocation
Virtual Memory Manager
Kernel: Manages applications' address spaces
port
Special file which applications can connect to. When a client connects, a pipe is created and given to the server and client
A server creates a port by creating a file in /System/Ports. A client can connect by opening the same file.
pipe
Special file with two ends. What is written to one end can be read from the other, and vice versa.
Create an unnamed pipe using FsCreatePipe, or obtain one by connecting to a port.
Asynchronous Procedure Call
Kernel: Function call which takes place within the context of another thread, some time in the near future.
Useful for running kernel-mode code in the address space of another process.
kernel
Core of an operating system. Manages the resources of the computer and makes them available to applications.
File System Driver
Kernel: Driver for a file system. The kernel implements portfs, devfs, ramfs and tarfs. Other FSDs are fat, ext2 and cdfs.
vnode
Kernel: Unique identifier for an object in the file system. Consists of a pointer to an FSD and a vnode ID generated by that FSD.
AT Attachment
Standard for disk drives. Möbius supports ATA hard disk drives, and ATAPI CD and DVD drives.
ramdisk
File system in memory. Used by the kernel to access files loaded by the boot loader.
Möbius is an open-source operating system for the IA-32 platform (Intel i386 and compatibles).
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About Möbius
There are a lot of other operating systems for the i386:
- Windows NT and its successors are closed-source. Their development is dictated solely by Microsoft and their interests.
- Windows 95 and its successors are hacks to Windows 3.x and MS-DOS.
- Linux has been going a long time, and has traditionally been a Unix clone. As such it is a bit of a hack and is struggling to keep up with modern OS concepts.
- Most of the other amateur OS projects consist of a boot sector and a 'kernel' which prints "Hello, world!".
- Of the others, most have followed the same path as Linux, without any regard to design or future compatibility.
- The small remainder are promising, well-designed operating systems.
Möbius has been designed as a good modern OS. Its main goals are:
- To be extensible enough so that it is easy to modify it for new devices and technologies
- To keep the kernel as small and modular as possible
- To support existing applications where possible
- To remain easy enough to use that users can install and configure a Möbius system without having to learn it
You can try the OS by downloading a floppy disk image, writing it to a disk and booting from it. Alternatively, you can use the disk image in an emulator such as Bochs. Full source code is available through CVS.
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Project Page on SourceForge |