SmileyOS — a bare-metal operating system in Rust, with its own language for kids.
SmileyOS turns any old computer into a distraction-free coding playground. A bare-metal x86 OS written from scratch in Rust (~100K LOC) with Smilium — a custom language and runtime for shell tools, UI applications, and 2D games, plus 28 guided lessons. No internet, no ads, no distractions.
Why
Most projects live a long way above the metal. I wanted to build something that doesn't — an operating system that forces me to understand memory, CPUs, interrupts, and ABI at first hand, and that also does something genuinely useful for someone else: teach kids real programming on old computers, without the internet in the way.
Scope
SmileyOS is a complete x86 operating system written in Rust with its own programming language, runtime, and development environment. It includes Smilium, a custom language designed for the OS that's used to build shell tools, UI applications, and 2D games — all running natively on the bare-metal kernel.
Stack
Highlights
- Kernel, shell, and application runtime — all in Rust, all from scratch.
- Smilium: a custom language with its own compiler and runtime that runs inside SmileyOS.
- 28 guided lessons — from terminal commands to building a small 2D game.
- Completely offline: no internet, no ads, no account sign-ups.
- Targets old hardware so unused computers become kid-friendly coding machines.
Outcome
SmileyOS is live and growing — a full write-up is on Medium. It's both a personal systems-programming playground and a serious attempt to give kids a clean environment to learn real code in. Everything is public; feedback and forks welcome.