Physicist Amok

I propose QEMU as the new standard hardware platform for operating system design. Why?

A new operating system must not only be technically superior and offer enormous advantages to its users, it must also run on enough hardware to establish a user base. The first is almost trivial given the state of systems today. No one wants to tackle the second. We all remember Linux’s long march up that slope.

However, Linux has made the march. We don’t have to do it again. Run a Linux kernel, then emulate a standard hardware platform with QEMU. Write your new operating system for that. Assume you’re going to coexist with Linux. If your system is someday so successful that Linux appears to be a useless appendage, you’ll have the necessary user base to write drivers. Until then, embrace our friends in the Linux community.