Welcome to the Tunes project
"To make an apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe"
-- Carl Sagan
You should read
this Warning
before you
learn what
the Tunes project is,
read papers and articles
about Tunes,
see the current
project Status, or
follow
Pointers to more
Tunes topics...
If you already know the Tunes project, you might want to see
What's New on the WWW pages.
What is Tunes ?
Actually, this is the first of many
Frequently Asked Questions
(a.k.a. FAQs) about Tunes.
To sum up in technical terms, Tunes is a project
to replace existing Operating Systems, Languages, and User Interfaces
by a completely rethough Computing System,
based on a
correctness-proof-secure
higher-order reflective self-extensible
fine-grained
distributed persistent fault-tolerant version-aware
decentralized (no-kernel)
object system.
We want to implement such a system because we know
all these are required for the computing industry to compete fairly,
which is not currently possible.
Even if Tunes itself does not become a world-wide OS,
we hope the TUNES experience can speed up the appearance of such an OS
that would fulfill our requirements.
Tunes is a recursive acronym for:
"Tunes is a Useful, Not Expedient, System".
It is a project to provide both design and implemention of a
computing system,
based upon a paradigm of total
computing freedom.
Such a system encompasses all computing software,
from the lowest-level hardware layers of an
operating system,
up to the highest-level layers of computer logic,
and including friendly
user interfaces,
computer languages,
distributed computing management.
Its scope is the whole
computing world;
it aims at absolutely all
kinds of users,
(we make no arbitrary racial or other distinction among them),
from newbies to gurus, humans or machines,
all kinds of computing, from video games to professional expert systems,
on all kind of platforms, from pocket calculators to mainframe computer.
Its approach is based on a permanent, serious, deep reflection
about how the computing world could be, how it should be,
and why it should be so,
including both theoretical and practical considerations,
which we invite you to share with us.
We believe that both theory without practice and practice without theory
lead to deeply flawed systems.
Thus this project is neither a purely philosophical nor
a purely experimental project: it's an ethical project.
Since the project is in an early development stage, we're currently
looking for the guru (or would-be guru) type of collaborator.
Don't be modest; if you're ready to work, you can easily become a guru.
The project is currently not funded, and lives on the spare time of its
collaborators.
The project will freely distribute all its code over this
world, but will reserve the right to offer non-free support for it.
Code will be copyrighted so that it will stay freely distributable,
but the project will stay in control of commercial use,
distribution, and support of any code produced.
The project is divided recursively into
subprojects
each having its own maintainer, according to the
Tunes Charter.
This page is the root project of the above hierarchy.
Papers about Tunes
- "Why a New OS ?",
a motivation for a new OS (still unfinished paper)
- A politicized Glossary
of terms used in Tunes (always evolving),
that may tell much about the project's point of view.
- A digest of
messages in the mailing-list about general system design
(still very partial)
- The Review subproject has
pages about features
Tunes will have, and
examples
of what Tunes will do for you.
Tunes project status
The Tunes project is currently in early development stage.
Current release is 0.0.0.15.
But if you access this page through the WWW,
it already has changed a bit since the release.
Contributing to Tunes
Now you can help us, and we beg you do so,
be it "merely" by sending us feedback or pointers to other people's work.
What did you understand/misunderstand, like/dislike, agree/disagree with?
What improvements could be done, in the contents or style of this page?
What gross or subtle mistakes are we doing, that you can point us to?
What other subjects would you like the project to cover,
even though you might not be able to actively help us cover it ?
Tunes addresses
- Consult the
FAQ
list with answers
about What Tunes is.
- Walk the tree of active Tunes
Subprojects.
- Join the Tunes mailing
list,
or just read its on-line
archive.
- Read
papers and articles
about Tunes.
- Get the Tunes distribution, patches or files from the
Tunes
anonymous ftp site.
- See the subproject to
Review existing software
and compare to Tunes
(has got lots of pointers to other related works in the
computer OS, and
language field).
- See the list of active Tunes
project members
to know more about us.
- A "log" of changes
in these WWW pages.
- Access the original Tunes
Home page
(if you're not there already), to get the latest news.
In any case, don't forget to send us any kind of feeback !
To Do in the root project
- Write an overview of the project.
- create a stdlib subproject
- list modules to implement for stdlib, UI, meta-translator, HLL,
LLL subprojects.
- Talk about Tunes vs GNU, Tunes vs Linux, etc...
- Create glossary entries for all missing words...
- Recruit new members.
- Recruit coordinators for subprojects that are not active enough.
- Get feedback from the project members and other page readers.
- Talk about the open development model, as used in Linux.
- Bring lots o'graphics to impress the mob.
- We are still looking for maintainers for all those subprojects:
Review.
Migration,
LLL,
OTOP,
i386,
C translator,
Project Coordinator:
Faré
-- rideau@clipper.ens.fr