mirror of
https://github.com/hsoft/collapseos.git
synced 2024-12-24 14:28:06 +11:00
Update README
This commit is contained in:
parent
9bb2194fb0
commit
8b638f6899
202
README.md
202
README.md
@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
|
||||
*Bootstrap post-collapse technology*
|
||||
|
||||
Collapse OS is a z80 kernel and a collection of programs, tools and
|
||||
documentation that allows you to assemble an OS that can:
|
||||
documentation that allows you to assemble an OS that, when completed, will be
|
||||
able to:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Run on an extremely minimal and improvised architecture.
|
||||
2. Communicate through a improvised serial interface linked to some kind of
|
||||
@ -22,199 +23,28 @@ tools.
|
||||
|
||||
## Status
|
||||
|
||||
The project is progressing well! Highlights:
|
||||
The project unfinished but is progressing well! Highlights:
|
||||
|
||||
* Self replicates: Can assemble itself from within itself, given enough RAM and
|
||||
storage.
|
||||
* Has a shell that can poke memory, I/O, call arbitrary code from memory.
|
||||
* Can "upload" code from serial link into memory and execute it.
|
||||
* Can manage multiple "block devices"
|
||||
* Can read SD cards as block devices
|
||||
* Can manage multiple "block devices".
|
||||
* Can read and write to SD cards.
|
||||
* A z80 assembler, written in z80 that is self-assembling and can assemble the
|
||||
whole project. 4K binary, uses less than 16K of memory to assemble the kernel
|
||||
or itself.
|
||||
whole project.
|
||||
* Compact:
|
||||
* Kernel: 3K binary, 1800 SLOC.
|
||||
* ZASM: 4K binary, 2300 SLOC, 16K RAM usage to assemble kernel or itself.
|
||||
* Extremely flexible: Kernel parts are written as loosely knit modules that
|
||||
are bound through glue code. This makes the kernel adaptable to many unforseen
|
||||
situations.
|
||||
* A typical kernel binary of less than 2K (but size vary wildly depending on
|
||||
parts you include).
|
||||
* Built with minimal tooling: only [libz80][libz80] is needed
|
||||
* From a GNU environment, can be built with minimal tooling: only
|
||||
[libz80][libz80], make and a C compiler are needed.
|
||||
|
||||
## Why?
|
||||
## More information
|
||||
|
||||
I expect our global supply chain to collapse before we reach 2030. With this
|
||||
collapse, we won't be able to produce most of our electronics because it
|
||||
depends on a very complex supply chain that we won't be able to achieve again
|
||||
for decades (ever?).
|
||||
Go to [Collapse OS' website](https://collapseos.org) for more information on the
|
||||
project.
|
||||
|
||||
The fast rate of progress we've seen since the advent of electronics happened
|
||||
in very specific conditions that won't be there post-collapse, so we can't hope
|
||||
to be able to bootstrap new electronic technology as fast we did without a good
|
||||
"starter kit" to help us do so.
|
||||
|
||||
Electronics yield enormous power, a power that will give significant advantages
|
||||
to communities that manage to continue mastering it. This will usher a new age
|
||||
of *scavenger electronics*: parts can't be manufactured any more, but we have
|
||||
billions of parts lying around. Those who can manage to create new designs from
|
||||
those parts with low-tech tools will be very powerful.
|
||||
|
||||
Among these scavenged parts are microcontrollers, which are especially powerful
|
||||
but need complex tools (often computers) to program them. Computers, after a
|
||||
couple of decades, will break down beyond repair and we won't be able to
|
||||
program microcontrollers any more.
|
||||
|
||||
To avoid this fate, we need to have a system that can be designed from
|
||||
scavenged parts and program microcontrollers. We also need the generation of
|
||||
engineers that will follow us to be able to *create* new designs instead of
|
||||
inheriting a legacy of machines that they can't recreate and barely maintain.
|
||||
|
||||
This is where Collapse OS comes in.
|
||||
|
||||
## Goals
|
||||
|
||||
On face value, goals outlined in the introduction don't seem very ambitious,
|
||||
that is, until we take the time to think about what kind of machines we are
|
||||
likely to be able to build from scavenged parts without access to (functional)
|
||||
modern technology.
|
||||
|
||||
By "minimal machine" I mean [Grant Searle's minimal z80 computer][searle].
|
||||
This (admirably minimal and elegant) machine runs on 8k of ROM and 56k of RAM.
|
||||
Anything bigger starts being much more complex because you need memory paging,
|
||||
and if you need paging, then you need a kernel that helps you manage that,
|
||||
etc.. Of course, I don't mean that these more complex computers can't be built
|
||||
post-collapse, but that if we don't have a low-enough bar, we reduce the
|
||||
likeliness for a given community to bootstrap itself using Collape OS.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, with this kind of specs, a C compiler is out of the question. Even
|
||||
full-fledged assembler is beginning to stretch the machine's ressources. The
|
||||
assembler having to be written in assembler (to be self-replicating), we need
|
||||
to design a watered-down version of our modern full-fledged assembler
|
||||
languages.
|
||||
|
||||
But with assemblers, a text editor and a way to write data to flash, you have
|
||||
enough to steadily improve your technological situation, build more
|
||||
sophisticated machines from more sophisticated scavenged parts and, who knows,
|
||||
in a couple of decades, build a new IC fab (or bring an old one back to life).
|
||||
|
||||
## Organisation of this repository
|
||||
|
||||
There's very little done so far, but here's how it's organized:
|
||||
|
||||
* `kernel`: Pieces of code to be assembled by the user into a kernel.
|
||||
* `apps`: Pieces of code to be assembled into "userspace" application.
|
||||
* `recipes`: collection of recipes that assemble parts together on a specific
|
||||
machine.
|
||||
* `doc`: User guide for when you've successfully installed Collapse OS.
|
||||
* `tools`: Tools for working with Collapse OS from "modern" environments. Mostly
|
||||
development tools, but also contains emulated zasm, which is
|
||||
necessary to build Collapse OS from a non-Collapse OS machine.
|
||||
|
||||
Each folder has a README with more details.
|
||||
|
||||
## Roadmap
|
||||
|
||||
The roadmap used to be really hazy, but with the first big goal (that was to
|
||||
have a self-assembling system) reached, the feasability of the project is much
|
||||
more likely and the horizon is clearing out.
|
||||
|
||||
As of now, that self-assembling system is hard to use outside of an emulated
|
||||
environment, so the first goal is to solidify what I have.
|
||||
|
||||
1. Error out gracefully in ZASM. It can compile almost any valid code that scas
|
||||
can, but it has undfined behavior on invalid code and that make it very hard
|
||||
to use.
|
||||
2. Make shell, CFS, etc. convenient enough to use so that I can easily assemble
|
||||
code on an SD card and write the binary to that same SD card from within a
|
||||
RC2014.
|
||||
|
||||
After that, then it's the longer term goals:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Get out of the serial link: develop display drivers for a vga output card
|
||||
that I have still to cobble up together, then develop input driver for some
|
||||
kind of PS/2 interface card I'll have to cobble up together.
|
||||
2. Add support for writing to flash/eeprom from the RC2014.
|
||||
3. Add support for floppy storage.
|
||||
4. Add support for all-RAM systems through bootloading from storage.
|
||||
|
||||
Then comes the even longer term goals, that is, widen support for all kind of
|
||||
machines and peripherals. It's worth mentionning, however, that supporting
|
||||
*specific* peripherals isn't on the roadmap. There's too many of them out there
|
||||
and most peripheral post-collapse will be cobbled-up together anyway.
|
||||
|
||||
The goal is to give good starting point for as many *types* of peripherals
|
||||
possible.
|
||||
|
||||
It's also important to keep in mind that the goal of this OS is to program
|
||||
microcontrollers, so the type of peripherals it needs to support is limited
|
||||
to whatever is needed to interact with storage, serial links, display and
|
||||
receive text, do bit banging.
|
||||
|
||||
## Open questions
|
||||
|
||||
### Futile?
|
||||
|
||||
For now, this is nothing more than an idea, and a fragile one. This project is
|
||||
only relevant if the collapse is of a specific magnitude. A weak-enough
|
||||
collapse and it's useless (just a few fabs that close down, a few wars here and
|
||||
there, hunger, disease, but people are nevertheless able to maintain current
|
||||
technology levels). A big enough collapse and it's even more useless (who needs
|
||||
microcontrollers when you're running away from cannibals).
|
||||
|
||||
But if the collapse magnitude is right, then this project will change the
|
||||
course of our history, which makes it worth trying.
|
||||
|
||||
This idea is also fragile because it might not be feasible. It's also difficult
|
||||
to predict post-collapse conditions, so the "self-contained" part might fail
|
||||
and prove useless to many post-collapse communities.
|
||||
|
||||
But nevertheless, this idea seems too powerful to not try it. And even if it
|
||||
proves futile, it sounds like a lot of fun to try.
|
||||
|
||||
### 32-bit? 16-bit?
|
||||
|
||||
Why go as far as 8-bit machines? There are some 32-bit ARM chips around that
|
||||
are protoboard-friendly.
|
||||
|
||||
First, because I think there are more scavenge-friendly 8-bit chips around than
|
||||
scavenge-friendly 16-bit or 32-bit chips.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, because those chips will be easier to replicate in a post-collapse fab.
|
||||
The z80 has 9000 transistors. 9000! Compared to the millions we have in any
|
||||
modern CPU, that's nothing! If the first chips we're able to create
|
||||
post-collapse have a low transistor count, we might as well design a system
|
||||
that works well on simpler chips.
|
||||
|
||||
That being said, nothing stops the project from including the capability of
|
||||
programming an ARM or RISC-V chip.
|
||||
|
||||
### Prior art
|
||||
|
||||
I've spent some time doing software archeology and see if something that was
|
||||
already made could be used. There are some really nice and well-made programs
|
||||
out there, such as CP/M, but as far as I know (please, let me know if I'm wrong,
|
||||
I don't know this world very well), these old OS weren't made to be
|
||||
self-replicating. CP/M is now open source, but I don't think we can recompile
|
||||
CP/M from CP/M.
|
||||
|
||||
Then comes the idea of piggy-backing from an existing BASIC interpreter and
|
||||
make a shell out of it. Interesting idea, and using Grant Searle's modified
|
||||
nascom basic would be a good starting point, but I see two problems with this.
|
||||
First, the interpreter is already 8k. That's a lot. Second, it's
|
||||
copyright-ladden (by Searle *and* Microsoft) and can't be licensed as open
|
||||
source.
|
||||
|
||||
Nah, maybe I'm working needlessly, but I'll start from scratch. But if someone
|
||||
has a hint about useful prior art, please let me know.
|
||||
|
||||
### Risking ridicule
|
||||
|
||||
Why publish this hazy roadmap now and risk ridicule? Because I'm confident
|
||||
enough that I want to pour significant efforts into this in the next few years
|
||||
and because I have the intuition that it's feasible. I'm looking for early
|
||||
feedback and possibly collaboration. I don't have a formal electronic training,
|
||||
all my knowledge and experience come from fiddling as a hobbyist. If feasible
|
||||
and relevant (who knows, IPCC might tell us in 10 years "good job, humans!
|
||||
we've been up to the challenge! We've solved climate change!". Does this idea
|
||||
sound more or less crazy to you than what you've been reading in this text so
|
||||
far?), I will probably need help to pull this off.
|
||||
|
||||
[searle]: http://searle.hostei.com/grant/z80/SimpleZ80.html
|
||||
[libz80]: https://github.com/ggambetta/libz80
|
||||
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue
Block a user