Reimplenting Linux Kernel in Python

[Francis Lavoie]

Phil Frost wrote:

>On Wed, Oct 13, 2004 at 08:24:48PM -0300, Carlos Ribeiro wrote:
>  
>
>>...
>>
>>Now, let me re-state your question in a broader sense. Is it possible
>>to write an OS using a language such as Python? Yes. But the resulting
>>OS will surely be different from Linux -- by design it would be a
>>completely different beast. Some parts would still be written in C and
>>assembler, because it needs to access the hardware, and also for
>>performance reasons. But an API could be devised to allow higher-level
>>functions to be written in Python, while calling the low-level
>>C+assembler stuff. But as I said, it's _so_ completely different from
>>anything else in use today as to make it pretty much a theorethical or
>>academic exercise with little practical use. I can't see a project
>>like that taking off, even if I would love to see it working.
>>    
>>
>
>I can state from first-hand experience that this idea is not too
>far-fetched. It is possible to enable Python to express device drivers
>and low level OS functions like multitasking with an amazingly small
>amount of C+asm; I'd say around 2000 lines, excluding the Python
>runtime. If Pyrex counts as not-C, then I bet it could be done in 500.
>
>The performance problems are a bit harder, but with a good JIT compiling
>VM the runtime performance of Python could theoretically come very close
>to C.
>
>I do agree though that there is little point in rewriting Linux in
>Python. The advantage in Python is its expressiveness, but by rewriting
>an existing system you gain nothing.
>  
>
unununium, except is name, look very amazing ... but we still have to 
wait to see a product.