mirror of
https://github.com/hsoft/collapseos.git
synced 2024-09-07 08:58:45 +10:00
211 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
211 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
# Collapse OS
|
|
|
|
*Bootstrap post-collapse technology*
|
|
|
|
Collapse OS is a collection of programs, tools and documentation that allows
|
|
you to assemble an OS that can:
|
|
|
|
1. Run on an extremely minimal and improvised architecture.
|
|
2. Communicate through a improvised serial interface linked to some kind of
|
|
improvised terminal.
|
|
3. Edit text files.
|
|
4. Compile assembler source files for a wide range of MCUs and CPUs.
|
|
5. Write files to a wide range of flash ICs and MCUs.
|
|
6. Access data storage from improvised systems.
|
|
7. Replicate itself.
|
|
|
|
Additionally, the goal of this project is to be as self-contained as possible.
|
|
With a copy of this project, a capable and creative person should be able to
|
|
manage to build and install Collapse OS without external resources (i.e.
|
|
internet) on a machine of her design, built from scavenged parts with low-tech
|
|
tools.
|
|
|
|
See the "Goals" section below for details.
|
|
|
|
## Why?
|
|
|
|
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?).
|
|
|
|
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).
|
|
|
|
## Status
|
|
|
|
The project is progressing well and I already have a working shell (see `doc`
|
|
to see what it can do) on a classic RC2014. Highlights:
|
|
|
|
* Extremely flexible: this is not an OS, but a meta OS. You build your own OS
|
|
through glue code.
|
|
* 1K binary (but size vary wildly depending on what parts you include. 1K is for
|
|
a shell using all parts)
|
|
* Built with minimal tooling: only [scas][scas] is needed
|
|
* Can read and write to memory through shell
|
|
* Can run arbitrary routine from arbitrary address with arbitrary arguments
|
|
from shell.
|
|
* Can "upload" code from serial link into memory and execute it.
|
|
* Can manage multiple "block devices"
|
|
|
|
## Organisation of this repository
|
|
|
|
There's very little done so far, but here's how it's organized:
|
|
|
|
* `parts`: Pieces of code to be assembled by the user into an OS.
|
|
* `recipes`: collection of recipes that assemble parts together on a specific
|
|
machine.
|
|
* `doc`: User guide for when you've successfully installed Collapse OS.
|
|
|
|
Each folder has a README with more details.
|
|
|
|
## Roadmap
|
|
|
|
Such a vast project involves quite a lot of fiddling and I can't really have a
|
|
precise roadmap, only a general direction:
|
|
|
|
The primary target for Collapse OS is the z80 architecture. There's a good
|
|
amount of great z80-related hacks all around the internet, and the z80 CPU is
|
|
very scavenge-friendly: it's been (and is) included in tons of devices.
|
|
|
|
After a good proof of concept is done in z80, then more architectures can be
|
|
added into the mix. I have the intuition that we can mix AVR and z80 in a very
|
|
elegant minimal and powerful machine and it would be great if a Collapse OS
|
|
spawn could be built for such machine.
|
|
|
|
I'm planning to go forward with this project by doing three things:
|
|
|
|
1. Gather knowledge and hone skills.
|
|
2. Build useful parts of code to be assembled into an OS by the user.
|
|
3. Write "recipes", examples of assembly on real machines using parts I wrote
|
|
to serve as a guide for post-collapse assembly.
|
|
|
|
Recipes should contain both "pre-collapse" instructions (how to build Collapse
|
|
OS from a "modern" system) and "post-collapse" instructions (how to build
|
|
Collapse OS from itself).
|
|
|
|
Initially, we of course only have "pre-collapse" instructions, but as tooling
|
|
improve, the "post-collapse" part will become more and more complete. When we
|
|
have complete "post-collapse" recipes, we can call it a win.
|
|
|
|
If you're interested in being part of this project, I have no idea how to
|
|
include you, but please, let me know, we'll manage something.
|
|
|
|
## 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.
|
|
If the first chips we're able to create post-collapse are low-powered, we might
|
|
as well design a system that works well on low-powered chips.
|
|
|
|
That being said, nothing stops the project from including the capability of
|
|
programming an ARM or RISC-V chip.
|
|
|
|
That being said, the MSP430 seems like a really nice and widely used 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
|
|
[scas]: https://github.com/KnightOS/scas
|