Minimum set of primitives?

[Paul Prescod]

On a purely social level, I think that any project trying to design an
operating systems from scratch over the Internet is likely to fail.
Copying an OS is simple: you know what you are trying to achieve and you
just argue about the ways to achieve it. Designing one is probably next
to impossible, unless the group has a "benevolent dictator" that just
says: "decision made, move on to the next question." Even so, the
dictator's view of the "perfect operating system" will probably turn off
hundreds of potential volunteers. It is much better to clone something
that someone else has already designed (as in Linux).

 Paul Prescod  - http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco

"You have the wrong number."
"Eh? Isn't that the Odeon?"
"No, this is the Great Theater of Life. Admission is free, but the 
taxation is mortal. You come when you can, and leave when you must. The 
show is continuous. Good-night." -- Robertson Davies, "The Cunning Man"