What if, instead of customizing an existing operating system, I tried to build my own?
That's the idea behind SEA OS, my personal operating system development project.
I'm building SEA OS as a custom operating system, with the long-term goal of creating its own kernel, drivers, and user interface.
Why I'm Building SEA OS
I don't just want to use computers. I want to understand how they work underneath the applications we use every day.
How does a computer boot?
How does a kernel communicate with hardware?
How does keyboard input reach an application?
And how do you turn low-level code into a complete operating system?
SEA OS is my way of exploring these questions by building things myself.
The Technology
My current development work involves:
- C and C++ for low-level system programming
- Assembly for architecture-specific code
- GRUB for booting the system
- QEMU for testing in a virtual machine
- Make for building the project
I'm working on the kernel bootstrap and experimenting with hardware input detection, including keyboard input.
The Goal
I want SEA OS to grow from a small bootable kernel into an operating system with its own drivers, filesystem, and graphical user interface.
It's a long journey, and there's a lot I still need to learn. That's part of the point: building something this complex is an opportunity to understand computers at a deeper level.
I'm sharing the journey so I can document my progress, learn from other developers, and hopefully inspire someone else to start building their own projects.
Follow the Journey
SEA OS is a work in progress, and I'll share updates as I implement new features and solve problems.
If you were building your own operating system, what would you implement first after getting the kernel to boot?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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