An average disk layout

A basic DOS-era disk layout defines contiguous blocks of storage called partitions Define the partition table with fdisk, gparted Reserve space at beginning to store the Master Boot Record Different partitions are treated as "volumes" in DOS/Windows Different partitions can store different operating systems

An average dual-boot layout

The traditional way to dual-boot Create two partitions Install DOS/Windows to first partition Install Linux to second partition Install Linux-aware boot loader

Why boot loaders are important

The first 512 bytes of the hard disk are essential

• Holds the partition table, defining contiguous storage blocks and what they contain
• It's why you never run dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda unless you really want to choose violence
• MBR tells the computer where to look next instructions

Why boot loaders are important

MBR is, or points to, the boot loader

• Not limited to 512 bytes
• Allows for sophisticated configuration details
• Can be OS-dependent or OS-agnostic
• Examples: GRUB, LILO, NTLDR, EasyBCD
• Responsible for finding and loading OS kernel

Exodus

Boot loaders let you run multiple operating systems. Maybe something:

• Fast, free
• 64-bit architecture
• Developer-friendly
• Non-proprietary, license unencumbered
• Customizable
• Creator has reputation for yelling at people

Exodus

TempleOS is:

• A free, public domain
• 64-bit native operating system with
• a custom kernel
• built with a custom compiler, both are
• written in a custom C-like language (HolyC)

Exodus

TempleOS has:

• transparent file compression
• custom file system (RedSea)
• custom datetime library
• custom documentation format with
• custom 2D and 3D graphics libraries
• impervious network security

Exodus - Transparent File Compression

• "Files with names ending in .Z are individually compressed"
• To compress a file:
  
  Move("MyFile.TXT","MyFile.TXT.Z");

Exodus - POSIX time

• Linux/UNIX measure time by counting seconds since January 1, 1970
• This is the root of the Y2038 problem. 2038 - 1970 = 68 years
• 68 * 365.25 * 86,400 is approx. 2³¹-1 seconds

Exodus - The TempleOS datetime object

public I64 class CDate
{
  U32 time;
  I32 date;
};

• Elapsed time is measured as 2³¹-1 calendar days and 2³²-1 moments per day
• TempleOS epoch is January 2, 0 AD
• There was no year 0

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

Western secular timekeeping is based on the Gregorian calendar.

• Adopted October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585)
• Dates before this used the previous Julian calendar
• Most sovereign states adopted this calendar... eventually
• 0 is less than 1582

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

When will a CDate timestamp roll over?

CDate cdt=0;
CDateStruct ds;
while (cdt.date<I32_MAX) {
  cdt.date<<=1;
  cdt.date++;
  "0x%08x ",cdt.date;
  "%10d ",cdt.date;
  Date2Struct(&ds,cdt);
  "%3t2 %2d, %d\n"
    ,ds.mon-1,"ST_MONTHS",ds.day_of_mon,ds.year;
}

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

When will a CDate timestamp roll over?

 cdt.date      decimal     ds
0x00000001           1  Jan  3, 0
0x00000003           3  Jan  5, 0
0x00000007           7  Jan  9, 0
0x0000000f          15  Jan 17, 0
0x0000001f          31  Feb  2, 0
0x0000003f          63  Mar  5, 0
0x0000007f         127  May  8, 0
0x000000ff         255  Sep 13, 0

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

When will a CDate timestamp roll over?

 cdt.date      decimal     ds
0x000001ff         511  May 27, 1
0x000003ff        1023  Oct 21, 2
0x000007ff        2047  Aug 10, 5
0x00000fff        4095  Mar 20, 11
0x00001fff        8191  Jun  6, 22
0x00003fff       16383  Nov  9, 44
0x00007fff       32767  Sep 18, 89
0x0000ffff       65535  Jun  7, 179

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

When will a CDate timestamp roll over?

 cdt.date      decimal     ds
0x0001ffff      131071  Nov 12, 358
0x0003ffff      262143  Sep 23, 717
0x0007ffff      524287  Jun 15, 1435
0x000fffff     1048575  Nov 26, 2870
0x001fffff     2097151  Oct 23, 5741
0x003fffff     4194303  Aug 15, 11483
0x007fffff     8388607  Mar 30, 22967
0x00ffffff    16777215  Jun 28, 45934

Numbers - Gregorian calendars

When will a CDate timestamp roll over?

 cdt.date      decimal     ds
0x01ffffff    33554431  Dec 22, 91868
0x03ffffff    67108863  Dec 14, 183737
0x07ffffff   134217727  Nov 28, 367475
0x0fffffff   268435455  Oct 26, 734951
0x1fffffff   536870911  Aug 22, 1469903
0x3fffffff  1073741823  Apr 11, 2939807
0x7fffffff  2147483647  Jul 20, 5879614

Conclusion: Need to solve the Y-5,879,614 problem... eventually.

Exodus - RedSea

• "The RedSea filesystem allocates just contiguous files -- you load and save whole files at once."
• "The RedSea file system is a simple, 64-bit, file system which is similar to FAT32, but with absolute block addresses instead of [clusters], fixed-sized 64-byte directory entries and no FAT table, just an allocation bitmap."
• "Files are stored in contiguous blocks and cannot grow in size."
• Incompatible with FAT32, but TempleOS supports both

Exodus - RedSea

RedSea FS stores the core kernel dir entry data structure

#define CDIR_FILENAME_LEN  38 //Must include terminator zero
public class CDirEntry
{
  CDirEntry *next,*parent,*sub;
  U8    *full_name;
  I64   user_data,user_data2;
  U0    start;
  U16   attr;
  U8    name[CDIR_FILENAME_LEN];
  I64   clus,size;
  CDate datetime;
};

Kernel/KernelA.HH, Kernel/BlkDev/FileSysRedSea.HC

Exodus - RedSea

The core kernel dir entry data structure is 64 bytes

#define CDIR_FILENAME_LEN  38 //Must include terminator zero

  // "fixed-sized 64-byte directory entries"
  // means these 64 bytes:


  U0    start;                   //  0 bytes
  U16   attr;                    //  2 bytes
  U8    name[CDIR_FILENAME_LEN]; // 38 bytes
  I64   clus,size;               // 16 bytes
  CDate datetime;                //  8 bytes

Kernel/KernelA.HH, Kernel/BlkDev/FileSysRedSea.HC

Numbers - Why is TempleOS?

• Began in 2003 as J Operating System
• Then became LoseThOS, SparrowOS, finally TempleOS
• "[Terry] Davis claims much of the operating system's development was dictated by God, even claiming that the OS was meant to be God's third temple."

Vice - God's Lonely Programmer

Numbers - Be not afraid

Quick notes about TempleOS:

• Kernel & compiler are binaries (.BIN.C)
• Everything else is JIT-compiled
• Programs are kept as source (.HC) & headers (.HH)
• The shell is an interactive compiler
• Scripts are also HolyC (.IN)
• Text is either .TXT or .DD

Numbers - Be not afraid

Quick notes about TempleOS:

• Single-user, no user accounts
• No passwords, no encryption
• No sudo, no privilege escalation
• "Ring-0-only. Highest CPU privileged mode at all times."
• "640x480 16 color VGA graphics."
• "Keyboard & Mouse support."

Numbers - Be not afraid

"Linux is a semi... Windows is a car.... TempleOS is a motorcycle -- if you lean-over too far, a motorcycle will crash. Don't do that!"

• C:/Doc/Welcome.DD.Z
• C:/Doc/FAQ.DD.Z
• C:/Doc/CutCorners.DD.Z
• C:/Doc/Strategy.DD.Z
• C:/Doc/Tips.DD.Z

Welcome.DD.Z

"TempleOS is a x86_64, multi-cored, non-preemptive multi-tasking, ring-0-only, single-address_mapped (identity-mapped), operating system for recreational programming. The people whom can most benefit are:

• Professionals doing hobby projects
• Teenagers doing projects
• Non-professional, older-persons projects"

Numbers - Welcome.DD.Z

"It's a kayak, not a Titanic -- it will crash if you do something wrong. You quickly reboot, however."

Numbers - Be not afraid

"My vision is a souped-up C64, not a 1970's mainframe"
— Terry A. Davis

Lamentations - Switches, lights, and knobs

"We've all got our switches, lights, & knobs to deal with, Stryker. I mean down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, & flashing lights, blinking & beeping & flashing. They're flashing & they're beeping... I can't stand it anymore, the blinking & beeping & flashing!"

Disk partitioning options

Option #1	Option #2

Ideal TempleOS dual-boot layout

Single FAT32 partition Combines TempleOS files & full Linux install In the same file system OS chosen at boot time

UI menu.c32
PROMPT 1

MENU TITLE Boot Menu
MENU ROWS 2

LABEL TempleOS
  MENU LABEL TempleOS
  BOOT /Kernel.BIN.C

LABEL tc
  MENU LABEL Tiny Core Linux
  KERNEL /tce/boot/vmlinuz64
  INITRD /tce/boot/corepure64.gz
  APPEND loglevel=3 vga=789 lang=en_US.UTF-8

I64 i,s1=1,s2=0;
U8 *buf=StrNew("DOG")

for(i=0;i<StrLen(buf);i++) {
  s1+=buf[i]%65521;
  s2+=s1%65521;
}
"%04x %04x\n",s2,s1;
Free(buf);

"DOG" => 01b4 00db
"CAT" => 01a2 00d9
"GOD" => 01ba 00db

TempleOS: Now with md5sum

MD5 in HolyC

Tracking files in TempleOS

TempleOS: Now with sha1sum, too!

TempleOS: Now with mtree, too!

Revelation - What's next?

Revelation - What's next?

Revelation - What's next?