SerenityOS is a POSIX compliant system with a retro-style UI (heavily inspired in Windows 2000), written in modern C++ and a custom, friendlier alternative to the STL (the C++ stdlib equivalent). It was started in 2018 by Andreas Kling, and since then, it just kept growing and amassing a vibrant community of developers and enthusiasts.
There is an ongoing effort to make a custom programming language to (hopefully) replace C++ for developing userland applications (and maybe also the kernel?), but it’s still in early development.
Every piece of software from the kernel to the userland applications live in the same repository (monorepo approach). And one of the core philosophies is to implement every component of the system āin homeā - drivers, protocols and tools. It even has a browser built completely from scratch (which is quite insane!).
Although it tries to not depend on third-party software and libraries, it still gives you the choice to install many ports of popular software, like Python 3 or Quake.
Since discovering the project last year, I started keeping track of its progress by watching many of the videos posted by the creator of the system in his YouTube channel (especially the monthly updates and the weekly Q&A on Fridays afternoons).
But after lurking around for many months, I finally decided to contribute, even thought I donāt really know how to code in C++. I have a small list of things I would like to fix and improve.
I will try to post regular updates describing my journey and experiences into the system and documenting the progress of the projects I have in mind.