I left IBM STG middle of last year. In the span of about 6 months, half of my former department either left IBM or transferred elsewhere in the company. In the latest rounds of layoffs, I was surprised at how many good people (but middle aged) in the larger organization were dumped, and how some bare some areas have gotten (100,000's of code falls on 1 or 2 people).
Writing a toy OS is something that while seemingly intimidating, is actually pretty approachable. My mind was blown when I came across Lions' Commentary on UNIX as a HS sophomore, and I ended up spending the whole summer working on some dinky Unix'y clone.
I do OS development and most of my coworkers had similar experiences.
I left IBM STG middle of last year. In the span of about 6 months, half of my former department either left IBM or transferred elsewhere in the company. In the latest rounds of layoffs, I was surprised at how many good people (but middle aged) in the larger organization were dumped, and how some bare some areas have gotten (100,000's of code falls on 1 or 2 people).