What would justify writting an OS kernel in 2026?

There are a lot of things that could be fixed like (off the top of my head) fork() and making filesystems async. A new kernel probably won't be adopted but there's still technical work to do.

Fun, primarily. Or to learn. Or perhaps to show that something never done before (some unique combination of features) can be done. "Because the mountain is there".

Imho: if that doesn't do, don't even start. Or find existing project & contribute to that.

Myself, I've been wanting to dive into Forth systems. And get some hands-on experience with RISC-V assembly. So, over the past winter I've put together lots of bits & pieces of a small Forth-like system, targeting RV32I (eyeing the RP2350pc as a target device).

> Linux won

No, my Forth is much better! It'll be able to run on devices that Linux couldn't possibly ever run on (~10 KB ROM, similar size RAM), easier to understand, easier to change, doesn't need multi-GB software install to develop, should boot in milliseconds. And I wrote it myself - no AI.

Just saying... Linux is great for many things. Other OSes (or -kernels) good for other things.

> I am making my own systems programming language, called Tig.

Link?

Edit: same question posted 17 days ago? Hmm...