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Damn Small Linux 2024

damnsmalllinux.org

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Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#71

Post by moffkalast »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #67
moffkalast wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So uh, who's gonna be first to get it running on a Pi Pico?

Pico is a microcontroller whose Cortex-M0+ cores lack a memory management unit for virtual memory (considered essential for a full-fledged OS like Linux). But can run FreeRTOS on it...memory usages are 236 bytes for the scheduler, 76 bytes + queue storage area for each queue, and 64 bytes plus task stack size for each task, plus 5 to 10 KBytes of ROM.[1] [1] https://freertos.org/FAQMem.html

Yeah I figured there might be a rub somewhere otherwise it would already be a thing, but since it's technically an ARM it sounded vaguely promising. What about a 32 bit build? I think those used to be able to work with without virtual addresses.

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#73

Post by jwells89 »

montecarl wrote: post #62
pushedx wrote: post #8

I used DSL back around when it was released (and 64 MiB flash drives were common) to get around my school's network filtering. I think this was one of the reasons they hired new IT staff the following year, because the technique caught on even with the non-nerdy crowd.

Yes, this brings back such memories for me too! I also used to boot from removable media to use linux on school computers. The librarian assumed I was some kind of computer hacker and reported me to the schools IT admin. I thought I was in trouble. Instead he took me under his wing and had me work with him after school on some fun projects! Really helped me understand that the skills I was learning were valuable and…

Kudos to the admin, that’s a much better way to handle such a situation than what I’ve sadly read many stories about, where the IT dept seemingly takes mild cleverness by students as a personal insult and punishes them.

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#74

Post by NegativeLatency »

moffkalast wrote: post #71
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pico is a microcontroller whose Cortex-M0+ cores lack a memory management unit for virtual memory (considered essential for a full-fledged OS like Linux). But can run FreeRTOS on it...memory usages are 236 bytes for the scheduler, 76 bytes + queue storage area for each queue, and 64 bytes plus task stack size for each task, plus 5 to 10 KBytes of ROM.[1] [1] https://freertos.org/FAQMem.html

Yeah I figured there might be a rub somewhere otherwise it would already be a thing, but since it's technically an ARM it sounded vaguely promising. What about a 32 bit build? I think those used to be able to work with without virtual addresses.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/190350/mmu-less-ker...

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#77

Post by fuzzfactor »

anthk wrote: post #19
metalspot wrote: post #10

> keeping otherwise usable hardware out of landfills while i like this idea in theory, in practice the energy efficiency and lower electricity costs of newer hardware mean that in terms of both cost and environmental impact it would probably be better to recycle the old hardware and buy something new in most cases.

Building and shipping new machines requires far more envionmental related costs.

Plus just earning the money to buy the new hardware is bad enough.

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#78

Post by squarefoot »

codethief wrote: post #41
ravenstine wrote: post #27

Wow, this is crazy. I came across the DSL website last night while trying to figure out how to compile a minimal Linux kernel myself, and now here it is on HN! I used DSL back in high school when it was new. As a side note, why does compiling Linux have to be so... obtuse? It just stops for me after several minutes of building out objects with no explanation.

Are you looking to build just a minimal kernel or also a minimal distribution? (Which is what I happened to be thinking about last night :)) In the latter case, do you know any good resources about that topic?

Yocto, Linux From Scratch (LFS) and buildroot for embedded systems come to mind.

https://www.yoctoproject.org/

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

https://buildroot.org/

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#79

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #67
moffkalast wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So uh, who's gonna be first to get it running on a Pi Pico?

Pico is a microcontroller whose Cortex-M0+ cores lack a memory management unit for virtual memory (considered essential for a full-fledged OS like Linux). But can run FreeRTOS on it...memory usages are 236 bytes for the scheduler, 76 bytes + queue storage area for each queue, and 64 bytes plus task stack size for each task, plus 5 to 10 KBytes of ROM.[1] [1] https://freertos.org/FAQMem.html

There's also inferno, which is more or less a full unix-like that can run on the pico ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37393993 ) and on the Teensy and some other microcontrollers ( https://dboddie.gitlab.io/inferno-diary/index.html )

Re: Damn Small Linux 2024

#80

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

ravenstine wrote: post #27

Wow, this is crazy. I came across the DSL website last night while trying to figure out how to compile a minimal Linux kernel myself, and now here it is on HN! I used DSL back in high school when it was new. As a side note, why does compiling Linux have to be so... obtuse? It just stops for me after several minutes of building out objects with no explanation.

> As a side note, why does compiling Linux have to be so... obtuse? It just stops for me after several minutes of building out objects with no explanation.

That's... odd. Does it break if you just use the default `make defconfig` configuration? Because pruning what's built in without breaking it is hard-ish IME but it shouldn't just fail silently. Or... when you say "It just stops" you don't by any chance mean that it finished and you just need to find the actual binar(y|ies) it produced?

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