Collapse OS

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, when completed, will be able 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. 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.

Organisation of this repository

• 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.

First run

Everything to run is already inside repo, only you have todo is get submodules and compile

• git clone
• git submodule init && git submodule update
• cd tools/emul && make
• ./shell/shell

After that, you have to see prompt like this:

Initializing filesystem
Collapse OS
>

You can execute commands and compile with zasm inside this shell:

> fls
hello.asm
ed
zasm
readme.txt
user.h
> fnew 1 dest
> fopn 0 hello.asm
> fopn 1 dest
> zasm 1 2
First pass
user.h
Second pass
user.h
> dest
Assembled from the shell

Shell commands defined here kernel/shell.asm here kernel/fs_cmds.asm and here kernel/blockdev_cmds.asm

Don't be lazy, take a look at doc/emulate.md and whole doc/ section.

Status

The project unfinished but is progressing well! See Collapse OS' website for more information.