RetrOS-32
Infrastructure
hobby operating system
SHOW HN2025
575points
116comments
#54of 3,837 in 2025
Top 2%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
LovedMost comments that take a side are positive
27 positive, 20 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 3 critical, out of 51 comments about the project. Thread score +0.48.
Idea: 5 for, 0 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 againstExecution: 2 for, 1 againstDocs: 2 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Impressive hobby OS achievement
From 3 comments
The fact that the OP built an entire hobby OS complete enough to have windowing and font rendering, and got it booting off his vintage notebook, is extremely impressive, and much…
cyberpunk2066 on HNCongrats! Looks great coming from someone who had a Commodore PET 2001 in 1977. I have been toying with KolibriOS and MenuetOSx64, but I would sure like to try rolling my own OS.…
eggy on HNAmazing work! I tried a few years ago to write my own OS, seeing what you have achieved is very impressive and inspiring. Congrats!
jean553 on HN
Refreshing passion project without marketing
From 2 comments
These things are way better to see than stupid AI. It’s not going to “sell”, but it’s a tech person being creative and doing their craft. I used to study a lot of hobbyist OS…
moon2 on HNCongrats on hitting the milestone! This is exactly the kind of work I want to see on HN: passion projects just for the sake of making something, not advertisements, market news,…
globnomulous on HN
Objections
Default bitmap font is weak and hard to read
From 2 comments
I think the default system font should be a more condensed variant; it would make the system look much more refined. There are a number of areas where it's clear you need more…
ayaros on HNTough crowd! - “Look, I wrote an operating system!” - “Meh the font is weak” Peak HN IMO :D
throw-qqqqq on HN
Default password admin is insecure
From 1 comment
>The password for admin is 'admin' Brb, hacking your thinkpad
intalentive on HN
Requests
Support for variable-width or better fonts
From 2 comments
I think the default system font should be a more condensed variant; it would make the system look much more refined. There are a number of areas where it's clear you need more…
ayaros on HNSupporting variable-width fonts is pretty easy on its own (if bit-packing, you might wish to store them vertically), but does complicate combining characters (remember, they go…
o11c on HN
Wi-Fi and PCMCIA support
From 1 comment
Oh this is cool! I have a couple of 386/486 machines that would be fun to test on. Are you planning on cardbus/pcmcia support and wifi?
helf on HN
Port to Raspberry Pi
From 1 comment
Is there any chance of booting this on a raspberry pi someday? I'd love a non-linux minimal single-user OS that boots in <1 second
velcrovan on HN
Questions
How does the graphics subsystem initialize
From 1 comment
Just adding this comment to say congratulations and how impressed I am by your project! I've been an OS Dev fan since my teens and it feels great to see this achievement come to…
byte_0 on HN
Language suitability for low-level parts
From 1 comment
This is great! What would you do differently if you started again today? What are your thoughts on language suitability for the lower level parts (ie. Sticking to c or a simple…
sarkron on HN
Alternatives named
Haiku OS
From 1 comment
It’s written for the i386 CPU architecture while Raspberry Pi is ARM, so it would need to be ported. What about Haiku OS? It’s supposed to be for that exact use case…
pavlov on HN
RISC OS
From 1 comment
Have you checked out RISC OS already?
800xl on HN
SerenityOS
From 1 comment
Oh man I wish such big accomplishments were documented on video like Andreas Kling did with SerenityOS https://www.youtube.com/@awesomekling .. learned a lot from his videos
joshbaptiste on HN
KolibriOS and MenuetOS
From 1 comment
Congrats! Looks great coming from someone who had a Commodore PET 2001 in 1977. I have been toying with KolibriOS and MenuetOSx64, but I would sure like to try rolling my own OS.…
eggy on HN