4

I want to create my own Unix OS. Is there any book that I can learn from, from start?

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
  • 829,060
Mehmet Davut
  • 149
  • 1
    Define "want to create my own Unix OS". Do you mean developing an operating system from scratch, or just building your own distribution? – sakisk Dec 10 '11 at 09:28
  • i want to create my operating system, just that. standing hardware on feet and calling my scripts. and i use unix based operating systems so i want my operating system unix based. starting from the most beginning. – Mehmet Davut Dec 10 '11 at 23:54

4 Answers4

11

I don't think you will get any printed book on this topic. The best resource you should consider is LFS(Linux from Scratch).

It is a type of Linux distribution and book which teaches you how to build your own Linux distribution from source.

Sachin Divekar
  • 5,992
6

In case you meant "create my own UNIX OS" literally, maybe you're interested in the resources surrounding xv6 ("a simple Unix-like teaching operating system"), or "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System".

Edit Just stumbled upon this, "McIlroy's annotated guide to research Unix", which probably also is related. (And please read @nimrodm's Plan 9 hint closely :))

sr_
  • 15,384
4

While I understand that you want a UNIX system, I think it is worthwhile to take a look at a few more modern operating systems.

Plan9 from Bell Labs is from the same people who created UNIX and takes the same philosophy to the extreme (everything is a file, simplicity, composing small tools). Plan9 is a monolithic (but small) traditional kernel.

QNX is a commercial microkernel (see also openqnx) that shares some resemblance (at least superficially) to UNIX but is a more radical design.

Finally, MINIX is another example of a UNIX inspired microkernel and is accompanied by a good book describing its design and internals.

I highly recommend reading about the above systems before embarking on your own project.

nimrodm
  • 141
  • 1
    I wouldn't call Plan9's kernel "traditional" and "monolithic". Its distributed design (9P as the central protocol) makes it non-traditional, and the client/server architecture (file server, CPU server, authentication server, etc.) makes it non-monolithic. – sakisk Dec 10 '11 at 16:09
3

If you want to develop your own UNIX-like OS, on top of @sr_ answer I would suggest Lions' Commentary on Unix, The Design of the UNIX Operating System, and perhaps Operating Systems Design and Implementation to see how a microkernel based UNIX-like OS can be implemented.

sakisk
  • 2,873