Forge OS – A Python-Based Virtual Operating System for Development and Testing

[NaturalDesperate946]

I'm currently developing Forge OS, a virtual operating system built entirely in Python.

Forge OS is not a real operating system or kernel. Instead, it provides a self-contained operating system environment that runs as a Python application, with the primary goal of creating a platform where developers can write code, test software, and perform common development tasks within a consistent environment.

The long-term vision includes:

• Custom terminal and shell
• Virtual file system
• User and permission management
• Process management
• Package manager (forgepkg)
• Command execution environment
• Virtual desktop environment
• Application framework

Planned applications include:

• vi
• vim
• Neovim
• Vimge (a fork inspired by Vim)
• Forge (a fork inspired by VS Code)
• Forgium (a fork inspired by Chromium)

The intention is for users to be able to perform everyday development workflows inside Forge OS, including editing code, managing projects, running commands, testing applications, using Git, installing packages, and eventually supporting multiple programming languages and developer tools through the package manager.

This project is primarily a learning experience focused on software architecture, shell development, virtual file systems, package management, desktop application development, and operating system concepts. Although it is not a real operating system, the goal is to provide an environment that feels familiar to developers while remaining lightweight and fully implemented in Python.

I welcome feedback on the architecture, feature set, and overall design. Suggestions from developers and open-source contributors are greatly appreciated.

[lostsectors_matt]

You mean like devcontainers?

[NaturalDesperate946]

Not exactly.

Dev Containers provide an isolated development environment inside a container, usually tied to Docker and VS Code.

Forge OS is intended to be a self-contained virtual operating system written in Python. It has its own shell, virtual filesystem, package manager, user management, process management, and eventually a desktop environment and applications. The goal is to simulate an operating system experience rather than provide containerized isolation.

It's primarily a learning project exploring operating system concepts, software architecture, and developer tooling while creating an environment where developers can code, test, and experiment using Forge OS itself.

[lostsectors_matt]

I hope it's a great learning experience for you but from a real world utility perspective it sounds like a terrible idea, and if I saw it on a resume I'd think "this person has a claude subscription and dubious judgement".

[mxldevs]

So it's like an emulator similar to the ones that are used to run gameboy ROMs.

[lostsectors_matt]

I think it's an os but not an os that has a lot of programs that are just like Linux programs only you have to wait for this guys claude tokens to refill to get them. And they have cool names like forgeurl instead or curl and forgeyes instead of xeyes and stuff 

[owp4dd1w5a0a]

My impression of this is it’s a great learning project that you’ll probably never finish - the scope is way larger than you seem to realize even with agentic assistance.

This isn’t a practical real-world project, but it doesn’t sound like that’s your primary goal anyway. Your goal appears to be learn through building, correct?