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Kernel

· 4 min

Kernel late september: my operating system grows up what happened apps run in protected boxes Samantha reads mail and explains math case and OS kit priced at $199 eight apps dropped to 99 cents apps in protected boxes 26 next 2.0 release 2026-09-28 work commits by project joshuatree 564 turing 134 notes 103 dotfiles 32 nulljosh.github.io 28 gato 27 commits per day, 9 days commits 1367 projects touched 53 2026-09-12 to 2026-09-20

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree is the operating system I am building from scratch. This stretch it learned to run several programs at once, read disks and files, connect to a network and show a live landing page. It got Mail, Contacts, Calculator, Weather and wallpapers. Each app now runs in its own protected box, so one crashing cannot take down the whole system. It also got a new logo, sharper text and a sound card driver. I designed a case for it with six desert-layer rings and a tree engraved on top. The plan is $199 for the case and OS, or $349 for the complete kit. I also made a 36-second ad with Samantha’s voice and music.

Samantha and Turing

Turing is my local AI assistant, and Samantha is the voice and face I gave it. She can now research on Wikipedia, write briefs, read my mail, notes and reminders, and explain math up to Pre-Calc 12. Her face and voice work on the Mac and phone. I made her pick the right tool more often: wrong picks on test questions went down by more than half. Turing shipped nine releases in one day.

Apps

I dropped eight apps to 99 cents. Curvely now matches Desmos. Plank, Hamurabi, Roost, Dream and Hormuz went out. Madobe, my small web browser, got renamed. Bookrank and Lec got quizzes, and Homeroom got practice questions. Every project now has full documentation, and a big redesign touched 28 landing pages. Nimble for iPhone was approved, and Sidewise’s iPhone version was rejected while the Mac version is live.

Vancouver Vice

My Vancouver crime game now has SkyTrain, Victoria and Langley, and a face scan that makes the main character look like me. I wrote its docs and finished its second act.

Housekeeping

I closed 29 old GitHub issues, deleted 44 old branches and freed 5 GB of disk space. New rules for myself: stability and security work comes before new features, and anything stuck in the background for 30 minutes gets killed.