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Comment by pseudostem | Hacker News Reader

I am not a programmer (yet). I am an openBSD fanboy. I've read stories of people reading the code and raving about the quality. It does tick 2 of the checkboxes you mentioned (not just one person). Does this qualify?

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Can confirm.

I needed to learn how a very specific OS thing worked and I read the code from Linux, openbsd, L4, hurd, minix, and a few other projects.

The openBSD kernel code was easiest to follow because it favored simplicity over all other things (improved security was just a byproduct).

For the record, the microkernels where hardest to follow despite having tons of books and a few experts nearby. But that's a whole different discussion

Yes, I think so. Being written by one person isn't a hard requirement, it's just that I feel like you get a better sense of programming style and someone's approach to problem solving when you read code that hasn't been touched by too many people.

Projects with a maintainer who strictly enforces code style and quality would still fit the description. From what I've heard, OpenBSD falls under this category. I'll add it to my list.

If people are interested in looking at Unix kernel implementations: Open Solaris code is out there, too. Now, i haven't looked at it myself (not a kernel hacker) and it's more like the exact opposite of a one person effort, but i heard praises about its alleged code quality more than once. So it might be educative (as far as the design of a commercial Unix kernel goes).

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