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Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

duskos.org

81–90 of 152 posts

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#81
post #25

So an OS that’s lets user operate very close to metal/driver level? I still can’t imagine what the os will look like vs regular Linux

It doesn't have a GUI so it doesn't 'look' like anything other than a way to define new FORTH words and some basic low level drivers.

It does have a GUI. Not much is written for it yet, though

=> https://git.sr.ht/~vdupras/duskos/tree/master/item/fs/doc/sy...

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have a GUI so it doesn't 'look' like anything other than a way to define new FORTH words and some basic low level drivers.

It does have a GUI. Not much is written for it yet, though => https://git.sr.ht/~vdupras/duskos/tree/master/item/fs/doc/sy...

That's not a GUI. That's barely a display driver.

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#83

After civilizational collapse you won't need computers, you'll need bows, arrows and basic agricultural tools that don't require motors. Forget about electricity or anything requiring it, that will be the least of your problems. Assuming there is still sunlight enough to keep photosynthesis running. If not, you may want to find some place high. And if you are going to do something like this then you really should mak…

DuskOS is specifically for the interregnum period before full collapse, when microchips are still readily accessible, but can no longer be produced.

(I think the author’s predictions about the collapse of civilization are overblown, but still, if you’re going to engage in a middlebrow dismissal, at least do us the courtesy of reading and understanding what you’re dismissing.)

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#84
post #80

After civilizational collapse you won't need computers, you'll need bows, arrows and basic agricultural tools that don't require motors. Forget about electricity or anything requiring it, that will be the least of your problems. Assuming there is still sunlight enough to keep photosynthesis running. If not, you may want to find some place high. And if you are going to do something like this then you really should mak…

The main source of power for early radios in pre-rural electrification 1930s West Texas: small windmills that charged batteries for them - the wind is almost always blowing in West Texas. Zenith Radio Windcharger was the main type I remember seeing at the American Windmill Museum in Lubbock, a must-see if you find yourself in Lubbock for some reason. On that note, learning CW (Morse Code) well enough to understand it…

Yes, windmills would be a good choice.

I've made a whole trip around the USA to make pictures of these old windmills, an amazing number of them are still around, sometimes even in working state. Waterpumpers for the most part but also lots of other uses including electricity generation.

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#85
I've been thinking a out civilization collapse for a while, and to me the greatest think anyone should be building is simply a computer with wikipedia installed, running on solar batteries (or something even more durable). Meant to be working for a 100 years

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#86
post #76

After civilizational collapse you won't need computers, you'll need bows, arrows and basic agricultural tools that don't require motors. Forget about electricity or anything requiring it, that will be the least of your problems. Assuming there is still sunlight enough to keep photosynthesis running. If not, you may want to find some place high. And if you are going to do something like this then you really should mak…

I'd bet the US national grid would be back up in some capacity within a year. People tend to assemble in times of crisis.

I'd bet it wouldn't. You might have some tiny local grids but anything city sized would require a lot more coordination than you might think.

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's much, much, much simpler and more compact. The core system is about 8000 lines of code. The C compiler is 1400. Its memory footprint is extremely small (1MB to have a C compiler running on bare metal in the PC architecture). From here, you have a system capable of building C programs as well as bootstrapping itself. This is level of simplicity is staggering and empowering -- it is completely reasonable to read a…

If you're writing it in Forth, why bother having a C compiler?

There is a lot more software that currently exists written in C than in Dusk OS's forth dialect. The C compiler allows Dusk to run this software (once it's ported over)

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#88
post #85

I've been thinking a out civilization collapse for a while, and to me the greatest think anyone should be building is simply a computer with wikipedia installed, running on solar batteries (or something even more durable). Meant to be working for a 100 years

If you’d rather development to last 100 years, may I suggest GNU Hurd?

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#89

After civilizational collapse you won't need computers, you'll need bows, arrows and basic agricultural tools that don't require motors. Forget about electricity or anything requiring it, that will be the least of your problems. Assuming there is still sunlight enough to keep photosynthesis running. If not, you may want to find some place high. And if you are going to do something like this then you really should mak…

DuskOS is specifically for the interregnum period before full collapse, when microchips are still readily accessible, but can no longer be produced. (I think the author’s predictions about the collapse of civilization are overblown, but still, if you’re going to engage in a middlebrow dismissal, at least do us the courtesy of reading and understanding what you’re dismissing.)

> (I think the author’s predictions about the collapse of civilization are overblown, but still, if you’re going to engage in a middlebrow dismissal, at least do us the courtesy of reading and understanding what you’re dismissing.)

You should probably do me the courtesy to not make assumptions about what I've read and understood. This is such a common trope on HN that it made it into the guidelines.

The whole idea that the collapse of civilization is something slow is a massive assumption, it could be all over in a few microseconds so fiddling around with tech at a level like this is an exercise in futility: if this is the level that you end up at that's pure luxury and proof that civilization has not collapsed and likely will not collapse in the near future.

Microchips are not going to be much use in any situation where they can no longer be produced. They are the pinnacle of a very large pyramid and without the base the tip is next to useless.

A better - and far more immediate - use case would be to target the re-use of scavenged chips in the present day undeveloped parts of the world which are 100% dependent on imported goods.

Re: Dusk OS: 32-bit Forth OS. Useful during first stage of civilizational collapse

#90
post #85

I've been thinking a out civilization collapse for a while, and to me the greatest think anyone should be building is simply a computer with wikipedia installed, running on solar batteries (or something even more durable). Meant to be working for a 100 years

You've probably already seen it and it doesn't fit most of the requirements but some might be interested to see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiReader
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