The profan Operating System

The profan Operating System is an independent OS developed from scratch. It is not intended to be used massively or to have broad hardware support.

profanOS is characterized by its ring0-only preemptive modular multitasking minimalist kernel and colorful-looking command line-based user interface.

You can find a progress map here

Setup

Note

Compilation is guaranteed only on ubuntu 22.04 with gcc 11, it is also possible in windows with virtualization solutions like wsl (on windows 11) or hyperV.

Install dependencies

sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y make python3 gcc g++ nasm qemu-system-i386 \
                    grub-common xorriso grub-pc-bin mtools

Compile & Run

# Simple compilation
make iso

# Compile and run
make run

# Show all commands
make

Each time the disk is modified you must force its reconstruction with make disk. The main ports (more information in the ports section) are not included in the repo source code but are easily downloadable with make addons disk.

Automated build

You can download the build images from the repo profanOS-build or the latest release

# Run the iso image in qemu
qemu-system-i386 -cdrom profanOS.iso

# With KVM acceleration
qemu-system-i386 -cdrom profanOS.iso -enable-kvm

profanOS can also be tested online with two clicks with the v86 copy emulator here.

For information about real hardware boot and instalation see the dedicated section

Hardware requirements

profanOS is a 32-bit operating system, it is therefore necessary to have a 32-bit processor to run it. There is no exact RAM value to have, but without disk the entire file system is loaded into memory, however a few megabytes are enough.

Component	Minimum	Recommended
CPU (x86)	1@100Mhz	1@2Ghz
RAM	2MB	16MB
screen	text	1024x768

First look

When starting profanOS, you will be greeted by the Olivine shell, a language similar to bash. You can then run the help command to see a list of useful commands.

Tip

To switch the keyboard layout use the kb <layout> command, such as kb qwerty.

The kernel

The profanOS kernel (generally called generic kernel or profan kernel) is at the heart of the OS, it is extremely minimalist and can be completed by adding libraries loaded from disk such as drivers or file system extensions.

profanOS is not a SASOS - single address space operating system, but part of the memory is shared, like the kernel and the libraries. Processes can therefore freely access kernel functions.

Here is a list of the main kernel features:

multiboot support
32 bits protected mode
PS/2 mouse and keyboard
ATA hard disk
custom filesystem
preemptive multi-tasking
memory allocation
virtual memory management
librarys and modules
ring0 only

The userspace

Programing languages

The kernel and userspace are developed mainly in C. The Olivine Shell (see the language documentation) is the main shell language. You can also use the lua, sulfur, C and C++ languages to create your own programs.

Major ports

lua programming language, with custom library
doom engine, playable with keyboard
sulfur programming language, a project of a friend
tcc compiler, a small and fast c compiler
vlink linker with multi-format support
halfix x86 emulator, with 32-bit support

All the ports are available with the command make addons / make waddons (all ports) or by building them manually.

Libraries

Libraries are loaded from disk. Currently the libraries are not dynamically linked, they are loaded only once and are shared between all processes.

Internal libraries: devio, filesys, fmopen, panda, profan, vgui
Standard libraries: math, setjmp, stdio, stdlib, string, time, unistd

Real-Hardware

profanOS works on pc with legacy bios but not with uefi. However profanOS can work on recent pc by activating bios compatibility.

To install profanOS on a USB key or an internal disk, it is possible to use the installation script tools/install.sh or any other image flasher.

Warning

Installing an OS on a real machine can be risky and must be done with knowledge of the possible risks!

Install on USB key

Download ISO or build it in linux
Flash the ISO on the USB key with dd or any other image flasher
Activate the legacy bios in the bios settings (if not already done)
Boot on the USB key from the bios boot menu
select the graphical mode

Install on internal disk

This method is dangerous and will cause the complete erasure of your machine's disk. Please make a backup of your data and be sure of what you are doing.

Activate the legacy bios in the bios settings (if not already done)
Boot on a live linux
Download ISO or build it in linux
Flash the ISO with tools/install.sh or any other image flasher

# replace sdX with the disk to flash
sudo sh install.sh /dev/sdX profanOS.iso

Reboot on the internal disk

About

Known major bugs

bug name	since	description	cause	fixed ?
lagged lag	?	all profanOS is getting very slow	?	maybe
BOBCAT	0.4.2	some C compiler build broken zlibs	dily	no
no KB	?	keyboard not working sometimes	?	no

Screenshots

Author & Contact

pf4 (@elydre)

Contact me on my discord server or in PM @pf4

Source & Acknowledgment

os tutorial for the original tutorial
@Lorisredstone for all the help and ideas
@copy for the v86 online emulator and floppy build
osdev wiki for the documentation made by the community
framindmap for the mindmap of the todo list
Terry Davis for the inspiration and his courage
@yuukidesu9 for the iso creation
@iProgramInCpp for vbe pitch help and the inspiring OS NanoShellOS
szhou42 for the ata driver
@ProtoByter for the first pull request
@asqel for the real hardware test and sulfur lang

be careful with our friend 55