Why Nordic Developers Build Entire Operating Systems From Scratch

Nordic programmers have a long tradition of creating operating systems, exemplified by Linus Torvalds' Linux (1991), Andreas Kling's SerenityOS (2018), and Ville M. Turjanmaa's MenuetOS.

SerenityOS was started by Kling as a personal project to overcome drug addiction. In about six months he rewrote an entire OS stack—including kernel, TCP/IP, GUI framework, process manager, file browser, text editor, UI editor, a snake game and a drawing tool—entirely from scratch.

MenuetOS is a unique OS written completely in assembly language. Its smallest version fits on a 1.44 MB floppy disk and boots in roughly five seconds on a 200 MHz Pentium MMX. It provides a graphical user interface, an assembly‑implemented TCP/IP stack, a simple web browser, and can run classic games such as Quake and Doom. The OS also includes its own libc, network, graphics and sound drivers, all written in assembly.

rax = 53
rbx = 5
rcx = local port
rdx = remote port
rsi = remote ip address (in internet byte order)
rdi = mode : SOCKET_PASSIVE or SOCKET_ACTIVE (defined in stack.inc)
The socket number allocated is returned in rax.

The article asks whether such systems are merely toys and proposes three criteria: presence of a GUI, network capability, and ability to run large games. MenuetOS satisfies all three, demonstrating that an assembly‑only OS can be functional and performant.

Motivations differ: Linus wrote Linux “just for fun,” Kling sought personal redemption, and Turjanmaa pursued performance gains, claiming a 10‑40 % speed improvement by rewriting C/C++ components in assembly. Despite 15 years of development and multiple releases (up to version 1.51 in 2024), MenuetOS has generated no profit, highlighting a culture of passion over commercial reward.

The piece concludes that the Nordic environment—characterized by strong interest, ample time, and freedom from profit pressure—has produced many foundational technologies such as Linux, MySQL, Chrome V8, Minecraft, cURL, SSH, Qt, and Unity.