Haiku OS: One of the best operating systems you've probably never heard of

DamixLord — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:29:33 +0000

When we talk about operating systems, the conversation almost always revolves around Windows, macOS, or various Linux distributions. The more tech-savvy might bring up FreeBSD or OpenBSD. But what if I told you there is an incredibly powerful, blazing-fast, and completely unique OS that remains virtually unknown to the general public?

Let me introduce you to my latest obsession: Haiku OS.

About Me
Hi everyone! I'm Damien Nzukou (aka damixlord), an 18-year-old tech enthusiast from Cameroon. I am deeply passionate about computer science, the digital underground, and low-level development. In my spare time, I love digging up hidden software, obscure tech projects, and alternative systems.

This curiosity naturally led me to hop around different operating systems just for fun. I experimented with Ubuntu, Alpine, Arch, and Void Linux. They are great, but I wasn't fully satisfied. I felt like something was missing... until I discovered Haiku OS. It was absolute love at first sight.

Why Haiku OS is a Hidden Gem
Haiku is simple, fast, and extremely responsive. It is not a Linux clone; it features its own unique kernel built from scratch, and it is completely open-source. It has officially become my favorite digital playground.

Here is what blew me away:

Incredibly Lightweight: It runs perfectly off a simple 8 GB or 16 GB USB drive.

Blazing Fast: Its RAM footprint is minimal, making it perfect for breathing new life into old hardware.

Lightning-Fast Install: The actual installation takes less than a single minute!

Daily Driver Ready: The community is amazing, bringing new software to the ecosystem every day. You can code, play games, browse the web, and build your own tools.

I Wrote a Guide to Help You Get Started!
If you don't want to install it bare-metal right away, you can easily spin up a Virtual Machine (like VirtualBox) and hop right in. However, dealing with partitions during the setup can be a bit tricky for newcomers. To make things easy, I built a GitHub repository with a fully illustrated, step-by-step installation guide.

👉 Check out the guide on GitHub: haiku-os-installation-guide

Trying out Haiku OS is an experience every tech lover should have at least once. You won't regret it! I plan on writing more articles about this operating system and my journey exploring it, so stay tuned!

What are your thoughts? Have any of you experimented with Haiku OS before?

How I coded a shoot 'em up alone at 18 after learning Lua in a single week

DamixLord — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:29:54 +0000

Hey everyone. I'm new to the "real" world of programming because I used to just code alone in my room, strictly on my own PC. My name is NZUKOU DAMIEN (my username is DamixLord), and I'm an 18-year-old developer based in Cameroon.

I've been a fan of programming since I was 12. Since then, I've messed around with several languages: Python, JS, Go, and now Lua. I don't even know why, but I just love Lua for no specific reason, so I wanted to learn it. In one week, I learned variables, functions, tables, and OOP (especially metatables, which I absolutely love). I wanted to build a project to check if my fundamentals were solid enough to reach an intermediate level, and that's how I made SPACE CONQUEROR.

I didn't go with a traditional OOP approach; instead, I mixed it up with metatables because I enjoy it, and honestly, it was a blast. I'm looking forward to your feedback, advice, etc.

Just a quick heads-up (because I have to, since some people on Reddit jumped all over me for this): I did feed my code to an AI to make it more readable (because I do weird things like declaring variables that are as long as a highway), and I copied snippets here and there because my math and logic skills can be pretty bad. I'm not writing my first article to brag or pretend I'm a genius (honestly, I have major imposter syndrome). I'm doing this to get feedback, chat, and learn from my mistakes.

Thanks again! (And one last thing: while making this, I realized that my first real project is very similar to the one Elon Musk coded when he was 12, Blastar. Coincidence? I'll let you be the judge).

The Project : https://github.com/nzukoudamien/Space-Conqueror

DEV Community: DamixLord

Haiku OS: One of the best operating systems you've probably never heard of

How I coded a shoot 'em up alone at 18 after learning Lua in a single week