ICS-OS: A Kernel Programming Approach to Teaching Operating System Concepts

Traditional approaches to teaching operating systems require students to develop simulations and user space applications. An alternative is to let them modify parts of an actual operating system and see their programs run at kernel space. However, this is difficult to achieve using modern real-world operating systems partly because of the complex and large source code base. This paper presents ICS-OS and the experiences and results of using it for teaching an undergraduate operating systems course. ICS-OS is based on the DEX-OS kernel which has a smaller source code base compared to mainstream operating systems, making it ideal for instruction.