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The serenity of building your own OS (Changelog Interviews #554)
This week we’re talking to Andreas Kling about SerenityOS and Ladybird. Andreas started SerenityOS as a means of therapy. It’s self-described as a love letter to “‘90s user interfaces with a custom Unix-like core.” Andreas previously worked at Nokia and later at Apple on the WebKit team, so he had an itch to do something along the lines of a browser, and that’s where Ladybird came from. We get into the details of compilers, OSs, browsers, web specifications, and the love of making software.
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Sponsors:
- Convex – Convex is a better type of backend — the full-stack TypeScript development platform that lets you replace your database, server functions, and glue code. Get started at convex.dev
- Tailscale – Simple, secure networks for teams of any scale. Built on WireGuard.
- Fly.io – The home of Changelog.com — Deploy your apps and databases close to your users. In minutes you can run your Ruby, Go, Node, Deno, Python, or Elixir app (and databases!) all over the world. No ops required. Learn more at fly.io/changelog and check out the speedrun in their docs.
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Featuring:
- Andreas Kling – Twitter, GitHub, Website
- Adam Stacoviak – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website
- Jerod Santo – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn
Show Notes:
- Sponsor Andreas’s work on GitHub Sponsors
- Andreas Kling on YouTube
- serenityOS
- Ladybird
- The Jakt programming language
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Timestamps:
(00:00) - This week on The Changelog
(01:09) - Sponsor: Convex
(04:29) - Start the show!
(16:41) - How do you install it?
(20:32) - Why? Why?
(21:55) - An outlet to learn and explore
(26:32) - Need a bathroom? Build it.
(28:38) - Did you write the compiler?
(32:37) - Major stuff in the works
(36:56) - Sponsor: Tailscale
(40:33) - Why do we need more browser engines?
(46:46) - Do we really need diversity in browser engines?
(57:00) - Gecko vs Quantum
(1:00:30) - Diff'ing implementation vs spec?
(1:03:45) - Long-term personal goals
(1:05:40) - Where is Ladybird on the roadmap?
(1:10:01) - Who's on the team? Who is we?
(1:14:56) - What is a non-capitalistic product?
(1:17:57) - Let's plug some URLs
(1:18:40) - Use GitHub Sponsors to sponsor
(1:20:05) - Wrapping up
(1:20:41) - Outro and a bonus for ++