Tweak: Improved Documentation and README.MD

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boreddevnl
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# Core Architecture
<div align="center">
<h1>Core Architecture</h1>
<p><em>Overview of BoredOS kernel layout, boot process, and userspace transition.</em></p>
</div>
---
BoredOS is a 64-bit hobbyist operating system designed for the x86_64 architecture. While it features kernel-space drivers and a built-in window manager, it supports fully-isolated userspace applications and includes a networking stack.
This document serves as an overview of the core architecture and the layout of the kernel source code.
## Source Code Layout (`src/`)
## 📂 Source Code Layout (`src/`)
The OS heavily relies on module separation. The `src/` directory is logically split into several domains:
@@ -18,7 +23,7 @@ The OS heavily relies on module separation. The `src/` directory is logically sp
- **`wm/`**: The graphical subsystem. It handles drawing primitives, window structures, font rendering, and double-buffering.
- **`userland/`**: Out-of-kernel components. This includes the custom SDK/compiler environment (`libc/`) and user applications (`cli/`, `gui/`, `games/`).
## Boot Process
## 🚀 Boot Process
BoredOS uses **Limine** as its primary bootloader.
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4. **Driver Initialization**: PCI buses are scanned, finding the network card or disk controllers. The filesystem is mounted.
5. **Window Manager**: The UI is drawn on top of the Limine-provided framebuffer.
## Userland Transition
> [!NOTE]
> The kernel parses memory maps dynamically, meaning it adjusts optimally to the RAM provided by the environment or emulator.
## 🛡️ Userland Transition
The OS supports privilege separation (Ring 0 vs. Ring 3). When an application (like `browser.elf` or `viewer.elf`) is launched, the kernel:
1. Loads the ELF file from the filesystem using the ELF parser in `sys/elf.c`.
2. Allocates a new virtual address space (Page Directory) for the process.
3. Maps the executable segments according to the ELF headers.
4. Switches to User Mode (Ring 3) via the `iretq` instruction, jumping into the application's entry point (`crt0.asm`).
Programs then interact with the core kernel using system calls (`syscall.c`).
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Programs then interact with the core kernel using system calls (`syscall.c`). Isolated processes cannot directly access hardware or kernel memory structures without faulting.
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# Filesystem Architecture
<div align="center">
<h1>Filesystem Architecture</h1>
<p><em>Virtual File System layer and FAT32 abstraction in BoredOS.</em></p>
</div>
---
BoredOS implements a rudimentary but functional filesystem layer designed to support reading system assets and user applications during runtime.
## Virtual File System (VFS)
## 🗂️ Virtual File System (VFS)
The Virtual File System acts as an abstraction layer across different underlying storage mechanisms (even if, currently, only one type is fully utilized). System calls targeting files (`SYS_FS`) route through the VFS rather than interacting with the disk directly.
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- **Standard Operations**: Standardizing `open()`, `read()`, `write()`, `close()`, `seek()`, and directory listings.
- **Path Parsing**: Resolving absolute and relative paths.
## FAT32 Implementation
## 💾 FAT32 Implementation
The primary filesystem logic in `fat32.c` has a dual nature, supporting both an in-memory RAM filesystem for booting and standard block devices for external storage.
The primary filesystem logic in `fat32.c` is currently built as a RAM-based filesystem simulation.
### Booting and the RAMFS
### 💿 Booting and the RAMFS
Since BoredOS boots from a CD-ROM ISO image generated by `xorriso`, it does not read directly off the CD to execute applications.
1. **ISO Booting**: During boot, Limine loads necessary files (such as userland `.elf` binaries, fonts, and wallpapers) into memory as standard boot modules.
2. **RAM Simulation**: The FAT32 filesystem code parses these loaded memory modules and automatically constructs a synthetic FAT32 directory tree inside RAM.
3. **Root Filesystem**: All active execution of built-in GUI and CLI apps occurs off this read-only, in-memory FAT32 simulation.
### ATA Disk Support
Beyond the core RAMFS used for booting, the FAT32 implementation natively supports interacting with permanent storage:
1. **ATA Block Driver**: The kernel features an ATA block device driver capable of communicating with physical hard disks (or raw disk images attached via QEMU).
2. **Partition Compatibility**: The driver can recognize and natively mount external ATA disks formatted as single FAT32 filesystems or structured with a Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table.
3. **VFS Integration**: When external storage is mounted, the VFS delegates operations down directly to the FAT32 driver, which will read native sectors across the ATA interface.
> [!WARNING]
> **Limitations:** The current `fat32.c` implementation in BoredOS is strictly a RAM-based filesystem simulation. It **does not support** reading from actual block devices (real disks). Consequently, external disk images are not recognized, and any operations requiring persistent storage are unsupported.
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# Memory Management
<div align="center">
<h1>Memory Management</h1>
<p><em>Physical and Virtual Memory coordination in x86_64 Long Mode.</em></p>
</div>
---
Memory management in BoredOS is split into physical and virtual layers, designed to support both kernel operations and userland isolation on the x86_64 architecture.
## Physical Memory Management (PMM)
## 🧠 Physical Memory Management (PMM)
The PMM is responsible for tracking which physical RAM frames (usually 4KB each) are free and which are in use.
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2. **Bitmap Allocator**: The core PMM uses a bitmap-based allocation strategy. Each bit in the bitmap represents a single physical page (frame). If a bit is `1`, the page is in use; if `0`, it is free.
3. **Allocation**: When a new page is requested (e.g., for userland space or kernel heap), the PMM scans the bitmap for the first available zero bit, marks it as used, and returns the physical address.
## Virtual Memory Management (VMM) and Paging
> [!NOTE]
> 4KB frame sizes strike a balance between allocation speed and minimal memory fragmentation, fitting directly with the page tables.
## 🗺️ Virtual Memory Management (VMM) and Paging
BoredOS uses 4-level paging (PML4), a requirement for x86_64 long mode, dividing the virtual address space between the kernel and userland.
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- **User Space**: Userland applications are loaded into lower virtual addresses (starting frequently around `0x40000000`).
- **Page Faults**: The `mem/` subsystem registers an Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) for page faults (Interrupt 14). If a process accesses unmapped memory, the handler determines whether to allocate a new frame (e.g., for stack growth or lazy loading) or terminate the process for a segmentation fault.
## Kernel Heap
## 🏗️ Kernel Heap
Dynamic allocation within the kernel (`kmalloc` and `kfree`) is layered on top of the physical allocator. The kernel maintains its own heap area in virtual memory. When the heap requires more space, it requests physical frames from the PMM and maps them into the kernel's virtual address space using the VMM.
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# Window Manager (WM)
<div align="center">
<h1>Window Manager (WM)</h1>
<p><em>The native graphical subsystem compositing and event routing.</em></p>
</div>
---
BoredOS features a fully custom, graphical Window Manager built directly into the kernel, residing in the `src/wm/` directory. It is responsible for compositing the screen, handling window logic, rendering text, and dispatching UI events.
## Framebuffer and Rendering
## 🖼️ Framebuffer and Rendering
1. **Limine Framebuffer**: During boot, the Limine bootloader requests a graphical framebuffer from the hardware (e.g., GOP in UEFI environments) and passes a pointer to this linear memory buffer to the kernel.
2. **Double Buffering**: To prevent screen tearing, the WM does not draw directly to the screen. It allocates a "back buffer" in kernel memory equal to the size of the screen. All drawing operations (lines, rectangles, windows) happen on this back buffer.
3. **Compositing**: Once per frame or upon request, the entire back buffer (or dirty regions) is copied to the actual Limine physical framebuffer memory, making the changes visible instantly.
## Window System (`wm.c`)
> [!TIP]
> The performance of the window manager heavily depends on minimizing the "dirty regions" drawn in the compositing loop rather than sweeping the whole screen.
## 🪟 Window System (`wm.c`)
The windowing system is built around a linked list of `Window` structures.
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- **Window Structures**: Each window object tracks its dimensions (`x`, `y`, `width`, `height`), title, background color, and an internal buffer if it's acting as a canvas for userland apps.
- **Decorations**: The kernel handles drawing window borders, title bars, and close buttons automatically unless a borderless style is specified.
## Input Handling and Events
## 🖱️ Input Handling and Events
The WM acts as the central hub for input routing.
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2. **Hit Testing**: The WM checks these coordinates against the bounding boxes of existing windows. It handles dragging logic (if the user clicks a title bar) or focus changes.
3. **Event Queue**: If a userland application owns the window that was clicked, the WM packages the input (coordinates, button state) into an event message and drops it into the owning process's event queue. The application can retrieve these via the custom libc UI functions.
## Userland API (`libui.c`)
## 🔌 Userland API (`libui.c`)
Applications do not talk to the hardware directly. Instead, they use a library (`libui.c`) which makes specialized system calls (`SYS_GUI`).
- **Window Creation**: `ui_create_window()` asks the kernel to instantiate a new window object and returns a handle.
- **Drawing**: Applications can request the kernel to fill rectangles or plot pixels inside their designated window area.
- **Event Polling**: The UI loop inside an app continuously calls `ui_poll_event()` to respond to mouse clicks and window movement dispatched by the kernel WM.
---