Operating Systems
Operating Systems
[All text is in capitals.  At the top of the panel:] Operating Systems running in my house
[At the bottom there is time-line that runs from 1990 to 2066. It has small indicators for every year, larger for every 5 years and largest for every 10 years. Below the 10 year indicators are written the years. Also the year 2015 is marked:] 1990 2000 2010 Now 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060
[Bars above the time-line in four levels are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. Below is a list of the bars on the time-line in order of first appearance (with approximate year ranges given). Also the level from 1-4 is indicated, with level 1 just above the time-line and level 4 the highest level above the line:]
[Level 1 from 1988 to 1998 (extends a little left past the beginning of the time-line but not off panel):] MS DOS [Level 2 from 1993 to 2007:] Windows [Level 3 from 1994 to 2001:] Mac OS [Level 1 from 1999 to 2018:] Linux [Level 2 from 2009 to 2023. On the way the bar merges with iOS around 2018 thru 2022:] OS X [Level 3 from 2009 to 2016:] Android [Level 4 from 2013 to 2022. On the way to 2022 the bar moves down past Android to merge with OS X after 2018:] iOS [Level 1 from 2018 to 2028. The text is written in square brackets:] [Something].js [Level 3 from 2022 to 2029:] TinderOS [Level 2 from 2023 to 2032:] Nest [Level 1 from 2028 to 2041:] Elon Musk Project: [Level 3 from 2030 to 2036:] DOS, but ironically [Level 2 from 2034 to 2041:] Blood Drone [This is not a bar, but the text (in three lines) is in a double bar-height (level 1-2) square bracket. The bracket extends from 2042 to 2051:] [Human civilization ends in fire] [Level 1 from 2059 going past the end of the panel past 2066:] GNU/Hurd

In this comic, Randall gives an overview of the past, present and (speculatively) future of the operating systems running in his house at any given time. Notably, because Randall is fascinated by technology, he has had more than one OS running in his household since the mid '90's. The timeline tracks how Operating Systems have come and gone over the years, and the gradual shift from desktop Operating Systems to mobile can be observed. Beyond the present day, we see some of Randall's humorous predictions as to which technologies and companies will dominate the Operating System landscape in the future.
It may be that the OS that is closest to the time-line is also the one he mainly uses during these extended periods.
Previous and current systems:
His predictions for the future include:
The title text refers to Richard Stallman , the founder of the Free Software movement and the GNU and Hurd projects. A survivor of the fire that ended the human civilization has uncovered a slightly burned ( singed ) picture of him. Those gathered can see, either directly from the picture or because they already know of Stallman, that this was a man that really believed in something. In this case it was free software . Inspired by his image, they rebuild their lost civilization and finish Hurd development.
The GNU/Hurd reference might also be a pun, as in a "herd" of Gnus "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization.
GNU is a collection of free software utilities, particularly the system utilities used with the Linux Kernel to form the Linux operating system (often called GNU/Linux by those who wish to emphasize the contribution of the GNU project). Hurd is an operating system kernel designed as part of GNU project that could be used in place of the Linux kernel to produce a complete GNU operating system. Hurd has a microkernel architecture, which has many perceived advantages over Linux's monolithic kernel, and is thought by many to be technically superior, despite its low adoption rate compared to the Linux kernel.
Randall has made several comics about free software and also about Stallman. See this list of comics featuring Richard Stallman . Most of these are also about free software in some form.
[All text is in capitals.  At the top of the panel:] Operating Systems running in my house
[At the bottom there is time-line that runs from 1990 to 2066. It has small indicators for every year, larger for every 5 years and largest for every 10 years. Below the 10 year indicators are written the years. Also the year 2015 is marked:] 1990 2000 2010 Now 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060
[Bars above the time-line in four levels are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. Below is a list of the bars on the time-line in order of first appearance (with approximate year ranges given). Also the level from 1-4 is indicated, with level 1 just above the time-line and level 4 the highest level above the line:]
[Level 1 from 1988 to 1998 (extends a little left past the beginning of the time-line but not off panel):] MS DOS [Level 2 from 1993 to 2007:] Windows [Level 3 from 1994 to 2001:] Mac OS [Level 1 from 1999 to 2018:] Linux [Level 2 from 2009 to 2023. On the way the bar merges with iOS around 2018 thru 2022:] OS X [Level 3 from 2009 to 2016:] Android [Level 4 from 2013 to 2022. On the way to 2022 the bar moves down past Android to merge with OS X after 2018:] iOS [Level 1 from 2018 to 2028. The text is written in square brackets:] [Something].js [Level 3 from 2022 to 2029:] TinderOS [Level 2 from 2023 to 2032:] Nest [Level 1 from 2028 to 2041:] Elon Musk Project: [Level 3 from 2030 to 2036:] DOS, but ironically [Level 2 from 2034 to 2041:] Blood Drone [This is not a bar, but the text (in three lines) is in a double bar-height (level 1-2) square bracket. The bracket extends from 2042 to 2051:] [Human civilization ends in fire] [Level 1 from 2059 going past the end of the panel past 2066:] GNU/Hurd
