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mirror of https://github.com/hsoft/collapseos.git synced 2024-11-27 12:38:05 +11:00
collapseos/README.md
Virgil Dupras 95ab1ad588 Transform "blk/" folders into "blk.fs" text files
Working in "blk/" folder from a modern system is harder than it
should be. Moving blocks around is a bit awkward, grepping is a
bit less convenient than it could be, git blame has troubles
following, etc.

In this commit, we modify blkpack and blkunpack to work with single
text files with blocks being separated by a special markup.

I think this will make the code significantly more convenient to
work into.
2020-11-14 18:34:15 -05:00

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Markdown

# Collapse OS
*Bootstrap post-collapse technology*
Collapse OS is a Forth operating system and a collection of tools and
documentation with a single purpose: preserve the ability to program micro-
controllers through civilizational collapse.
It it designed to:
1. Run on minimal and improvised machines.
2. Interface through improvised means (serial, keyboard, display).
3. Edit text files.
4. Compile assembler source files for a wide range of MCUs and CPUs.
5. Read and write from a wide range of storage devices.
6. Assemble itself and deploy to another machine.
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.
## Getting started
Documentation is in text files in `doc/`. Begin with `intro.txt`.
Collapse OS can run on any POSIX platform and builds easily.
See `/cvm/README.md` for instructions.
Alternatively, there's also [Michael Schierl's JS Collapse OS emulator][jsemul]
which is awesome and allows you to run Collapse OS from your browser, but it
isn't always up to date. The "Javascript Forth" version is especially awesome:
it's not a z80 emulator, but a *javascript port of Collapse OS*!
## Organisation of this repository
* `blk.fs`: Collapse OS filesystem's content. See below.
* `cvm`: A C implementation of Collapse OS, allowing it to run natively on any
POSIX platform.
* `doc`: Documentation.
* `arch`: collection of makefiles that assemble Collapse OS on different
machines.
* `tools`: Tools for working with Collapse OS from "modern" environments. For
example, tools for facilitating data upload to a Collapse OS machine
through a serial port.
* `emul`: Tools for running Collapse OS in an emulated environment.
* `tests`: Automated test suite for the whole project.
## blk.fs
This file is a big text file containing the "real deal", that is, the contents
of Collapse OS' filesystem. That filesystem contains everything that a
post-collapse computer would manage, that is, all Forth and assembler source
code for the tools it needs to fulfill its goals.
The Collapse OS filesystem is a simple sequence of 1024 bytes blocks. That is
not very workable in the text editor of a modern system. `blk.fs` represents an
"unpacked" view of that block system. Each block (16 lines max per block, 64
chars max per line) begins with a marker indicating the block number of the
contents that follow.
Blocks must be in ascending order.
That file can be "packed" to a real blkfs with `/tools/blkpack`. A real blkfs
can be "unpacked" to its text file form with `/tools/blkunpack`.
## Status
The project unfinished but is progressing well! See [Collapse OS' website][web]
for more information.
## Looking for the assembler version?
The Forth-based Collapse OS is the second incarnation of the concept. The first
one was entirely written in z80 assembly. If you're interested in that
incarnation, checkout the `z80asm` branch.
[web]: https://collapseos.org
[jsemul]: https://schierlm.github.io/CollapseOS-Web-Emulator/