1508: Operating Systems

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Operating Systems

Title text: One of the survivors, poking around in the ruins with the point of a spear, uncovers a singed photo of Richard Stallman. They stare in silence. "This," one of them finally says, "This is a man who BELIEVED in something."

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: More finetuning needed? Also, we need a more clear definition for the title text, separate from the explanation of the GNU/Hurd explanation. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

In this comic, Randall gives an overview of past, present and (speculatively) future of the Operating Systems running in his house at any given time. Notably, because Randall is a technologically obsessed person, there is rarely only one OS running in his household. The timeline tracks how Operating Systems have come and gone over the years, and the gradual shift from desktop Operating Systems to mobile can be observed. Beyond the present day, we see some of Randall's humorous predictions as to which technologies and companies will dominate the Operating System landscape in the future.

Previous and current systems:

• MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System)
• Microsoft Windows
• Apple's Mac OS (Macintosh Operating System)
• Linux
• OS X (Macintosh Operating System v10)
• Android
• Apple's iOS (internet Operating System)

His predictions for the future include:

• 2018: That OS X and iOS will merge
• 2019: That someone will succeed in coding an entire operating system in Javascript
• 2022: That there'd be an OS based on Tinder
• 2024: That the various devices from Nest Labs would be expanded so much that there's an entire operating system for them.
• 2029: That Elon Musk will be up to something ambitious and futuristic
• 2030: That DOS would make a comeback, but only in an ironic fashion, probably because there would be no more disks left for it to operate from.
• 2034: That ordinary people will be deploying weaponized drones in their homes
• 2042: Human civilization comes to a fiery end, possibly due to the unholy combination of weaponized drones and whatever the Elon Musk Project had developed.

(Alternate explanation:)

• 2045: Human civilization will be wiped out by an ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence, superior to human intelligence), as Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Gates and many tech pundits foresee that 2045 will be the year to see ASI becoming real, and as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and many other tech pundits fear that it will be the extinction of all life on earth, as explained on this page.

The title text refers to Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software movement and the GNU project, and refers to the timeline when GNU/Hurd is finally production ready. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that it will finally be ready to run in his house 8 years after humanity has ended, i.e. that a production-ready version will never be released. Or maybe he means that a herd of gnu will be running in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization. Maybe also he says that though human civilization doesn't exist anymore still humanity lives on, and GNU/Hurd will be the only system smart enough to be picked up by this post-catastrophe generation.

Transcript

{There is timeline titled "Operating Systems Running in my House". It runs from 1990 to 2067, at the edge of the panel. Bars above the timeline are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. The hatch mark at 2015 is labelled "Now". Listed on the timeline are (with approximate year ranges)}:

MS DOS: 1988 to 1998 (extends left past the beginning of the timeline)

Mac OS: 1994 to 2001

Windows: 1993 to 2007

Linux: 1999 to 2018

Android: 2009 to 2016

OS X: 2009 to (bar combines with iOS around 2019) 2023

iOS: 2013 to (bar combines with OS X around 2019) 2023

[something].js: 2018 to 2028

TinderOS: 2022 to 2029

Nest: 2023 to 2032

DOS, but ironically: 2030 to 2036

Elon Musk Project: 2028 to 2042

Blood Drone: 2034 to 2042

[Human civilization ends in fire]: 2042 to 2051

GNU/Hurd: 2059 to past 2067, continuing off panel

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Discussion

[something].js isn't that far off: https://github.com/runtimejs/runtime (Sometimes I feel like JavaScript is a cult...) :) Bb010g (talk) 06:07, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Wait, JavaScript isn't a cult? Luc (talk) 03:07, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

Typo in title text: singed should be signed.Jezzaaaa (talk) 06:43, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

That's not a typo. Singed means slightly burnt. It's implying a post-apocalyptic environment. 108.162.219.126 07:10, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

All strokes are týpa whereas misstrokes are dýstýpa. Lysdexia (talk) 10:53, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

I know almost nothing about Richard Stallman, but he does sound like the kind of guy who might be giving out signed photos of himself. :-) --RenniePet (talk) 19:02, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

He does, doesn't he? ;) http://shop.fsf.org/product/signed-rms-photo-print/ --162.158.90.190 17:39, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

"Blood Drone" Could be a play of words on "Bloodborne", the game. 108.162.212.14 09:01, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

[something].js is probably referring to Node.js or one of the many frameworks built on Node.JS (such as Google's Angular.js). Node.js isn't written in Javascript, but in c/c++ using Google's V8 JS engine and is a replacement for Apache (a web platform). My interpretation is that it's only a matter of time before someone builds an entire OS using Node.js principles.108.162.221.99 10:33, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

"Blood Drone" makes me think of blood-borne nanites more than anything. -108.162.250.179 11:21, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Ditto here, "Blood Drone" implies, to me, an operating system for blood borne nanotech. Ioldanach (talk) 16:34, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

What if the ASI will be running on GNU/Hurd and 8 years after the war will seize Randal's house? -- Hkmaly (talk) 13:35, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I cannot find any reliable source stating that iOS stands for "internet Operating System." To the contrary, and Internet Operating Systems seems like something different entirely. If anyone can find evidence to the contrary, please provide a link. 199.27.128.114 14:57, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

When Apple began the "i" prefix with the iMac in 1998, they said that it stands for internet. [1] --108.162.215.229 18:53, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that iOS came from the iPhone Operating System conjunction based on what I read on Wikipedia. I'm also inclined to support the idea that "Blood Drone" would be more likely to refer to blood-borne devices than to personal warfare devices, although with the timeline proximity to the Apocalypse, it is easy to see the reason for the other assumption. --Ancientt (talk) 16:33, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I fixed a teeny tiny typo. off changed to of. The Goyim speaks (talk) 17:03, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Looks like he doesn't have much faith in the future of Android. --RenniePet (talk) 18:55, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Or Linux... The proprietary Apple operating systems outliving the open-sourced ones is a horrifying & somewhat unbelievable prospect to me. 108.162.216.48 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Could the GNU/Hurd reference also be a play on words, suggesting that the dominant "operating system" or activity of the survivors in their low-tech post-apocalyptic society will be "herd"ing animals, like gnus? 173.245.52.118 20:58, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I added some trivia The title text begins by referring to a single survivor. The next two times, however, it refers to a group. 199.27.128.204 00:18, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I disagree. First, it's referring to one of a group of survivors finding the photo. The next two times, it's simply referring to the group looking at the photo that the one survivor found—Randall skipped over the matter of having them all go to look at the photo, possibly because he felt it was unnecessary. 199.27.133.40 00:56, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I also think that the far future has to do with herds of (wild) gnus wandering the deserted land. They will take some time to return, during which there are no operating systems at Randall's house. In my view, gnu herds are what make the survivors come there with spears, to hunt them. I don't know if the survivors remember Stallman or any of his projects, I think they just read the strength of his beliefs from his facial expression, which is remarkably constant throughout the years. 141.101.104.188 01:12, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I mean i assume we are supposed to suspend disbelief on the end part, because after the destruction of most of the human race, who would be continuing to work on an operating system? The Goyim speaks (talk) 01:29, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I think that "In this case it was free software" should be changed to something like "In this case it was an operating system given up for dead that ultimately proved superior and enduring." Calion (talk) 01:32, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I've changed the bits about Mac OS and Mac OS X to reflect a far more likely scenario. Besides the fact that I have a hard time seeing Randall adopting or abandoning an OS based on the current financial health of its producer, the timeline doesn't make sense. Apple's fortunes were far bleaker in 1995, when Randall began using Macs, than in 2001, when he stopped. Apple was in fact making a strong comeback at that time due to the success of the iMac and iPod. Calion (talk) 01:42, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Is it correct to assume that all these OSs are used by Randall himself? The comic says that they are “running on his house”. It might be that he is not the one personally using every one of them. —108.162.219.132 06:58, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

08:49, 7 April 2015 (UTC) The coincident timeline of "no more Android" and the merger of iOS and OSX also probably indicates Randall will stop using Android should the Apple OS' merger happen" - Vikrant 08:49, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

08:49, 7 April 2015 (UTC) Further, the Stallman-singed-photo and "here is a man who believed..." reference might be a way of saying "OSs will come, and OSs will go, but the GNU/HURD will live on for ever"... - Vikrant 08:49, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I disagree with DOS "making a comeback"; this is OSes running in his house so he is running it ironically. 141.101.98.188 14:23, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

It's utter no-sense, only Chuck Norris photo would survive end of civilization. Does the author, by the spear poking of Stallman's photo means that his sublime intention is really postmortem and virtual sodomization of Richard? 108.162.221.219 17:43, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I don't think proximity to the timeline has any indication of frequency of use. A simple rule saying "keep OSes horizontal, and when adding a new OS, always put it in the lowest free slot" fits the timeline perfectly. Angew (talk) 18:30, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Purists will note that "Windows" is not an operating system in 1993. Windows NT is, and fits the timeline better (besides the fact that you can't use Windows without also using DOS, you can use Windows NT without using DOS.) All of this points to Randall meaning to say "Windows NT" when he says "Windows". If he (or even just someone in his household) was still using 16-bit Windows for as long as that bar says.... yow. (That said, I only recently retired my last multi-boot system that had DOS on it.) 108.162.238.185 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I would not be surprised if he still had a machine running 3.11 for Workgroups through the beginning of the NT era. I know I did. My 286 & 386 PCs still work quite well. 108.162.216.48 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I'm under the impression that the apocalypse is caused by the singularity, and that GNU/Hurd is the Skynet OS. Maybe not though, that's just my impression of the comic. --199.27.133.36 00:33, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

No, it's that GNU/Hurd will take so long to be released, it won't happen until after the apocalypse. Luc (talk) 03:04, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

I am from 2018 and no, iOS and OS X have not merged Awoo is legal | (you can't) change my mind (talk) 16:23, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

four years to go Lysdexia (talk) 10:53, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

To the contrary, it's actually gone the other way. iOS has just been forked into iPadOS for the iPad, while iOS remains for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Numbermaniac (talk) 04:34, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm from 2021, and macOS (formerly OS X) runs on ARM like iOS does now. 172.69.22.66 22:20, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm from 2022, and the notion of human civilization ending sometime soon (in fire or otherwise) seems increasingly likely.

Consider the Doomsday Clock, closer to midnight than ever...arguably due mostly to the precipitous rise of collective and individual human stupidity (wilful and otherwise), reducing atomics and other weapons (and also technology more generally) to a footnote or mere instrument.

GNU/Hurd seems as distant as ever - Stallman has said some very unfortunate things, and lost much credibility.

I'm from 2023 and I'm sad to say that we still do not have TinderOS. 172.70.38.124 14:20, 14 June 2023 (UTC)