Are you ready for the Clicker generation ?

Introducing Clicker

What kind of O.S. should Clicker be

The main purpose ...

Clicker should be flexible enough to fully support the wide range of PC users and utilities. We want it to be a GENERAL operating system, which means that it would be possible to use the SAME system for developping, multimedia, games, secure networking or user-friendly computing.

The system should also be flexible enough to make the same software run on wide range of other computers systems like laptops, set top boxes, etc. Therefore, the system should be written in C (which is one of the most widely available language) and should have as few machine-specific code as possible (most of that code should be concentrated into the micro-kernel)

Important characteristics overview

multitasking

 As nearly all modern operating systems, Clicker will be a multitasking system, and will probably become a multi-processors-aware system as soon as possible.
The main "work unit" in Clicker is the When your game is over, you can then switch back to *MAIN* mode and then go on with your 3D-modeler, or your sound-tracker.

These transitions should be as "fast" as the starting/ending of the X session under Linux or the commutation WIN->DOS.
We also hope that the super-user should be able to define some new operating modes with special features, and allow some user to go/don't go to specific modes.

Who are you ?

For now, the Clicker team is not very huge:
  • PYPE
    That's me. I'm the current project leader and the writer of the Kernel. Let's say it's quite a huge task for a poor 20-year-old student and i'll be happy to share it asap ;-)
  • MIND Mind is not much more active in the project (well, i don't see him very often since he went to another school :-( I event can't remember his e-mail address (too bad)
  • KRIS
    Kris is mainly active on the DISK system and COMPRESSOR techniques. He also "supervise" my design-work so that i do not take too bad choices.
  • you if you'd like to give your opinion on some subjects ;-)
    •

    Where Can I Get It ?

    Heeey! keep c00l... We're not that kind of company that's able to make an OS in a few years! The idea of making a multi-tasking system appears only in '97! Then we took time to think about HOW we would multitask, how does OTHER system do and WHY that's not always a great idea.
    Most parts of the system are still in the conceptualisation stage of the "design pipe-line" (;-). So don't expect a ready-to-use system before a while.
    A "memory management scheme" has already be written (in TASM with PMODE management), but we have to port it to NASM/GCC to make the system easyer to understand and to write (i began to got lost in my own kernel :-(

    Can I Contribute ?

    Well, that would be *great*, moreover if you're experimented with Operating System, because we're quite few to code it, for the moment.
    The better way you can help us right now is to tell us what YOU'd like the Clicker to be able to do Leave your address in an e-mail if the project enjoys you. I'll recontact you as soon as we get a "running kernel" able to load modules (because if many people begin to write code for the kernel, it'll be quite a mess !!)

    Where can I Reach you ??

    By e-mail (martins@stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be) because i'm often too busy to be able to respond to snail mail (unless you prefer write a letter, but i'll probably answer you by e-mail). Don't hesitate to share your point of view, whatever it may be.