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Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

collapseos.org

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Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#51

Post by crocodiletears »

stolenmerch wrote: post #5

Genuine question: if we're in a collapse scenario that is so devastating to the global supply chain that we're scavenging microcontrollers, how do we generate electricity to power them? Solar panels and batteries don't last forever and would presumably require the same or similar supply chain as the microcontrollers. This is a cool project regardless, but in such a catastrophic scenario it seems easier to just give u…

In most reasonable collapse scenarios I could imagine, energy isn't so much a technological concern as it might be a political concern. Slightly scarcer perhaps, but there's a ubiquity of old alternators, plenty of shit to burn, and I guarantee the extractive industries will be among the first to come online, if they ever went out in the first place, and can be coaxed to function in a degraded state without globalized supply chains or too much esoteric knowledge.

Computers are much more difficult to bring back: much of their manufacture and distribution is highly dependent on a globalized supply chain, which in turn is dependent on the security guarantees of an international order backed by military force. Many of their parts are proprietary by nature, and individual components can at their simplest require rare expertise in multiple niche fields of science before their production can even be considered.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#52

Post by hyperion2010 »

stolenmerch wrote: post #5

Genuine question: if we're in a collapse scenario that is so devastating to the global supply chain that we're scavenging microcontrollers, how do we generate electricity to power them? Solar panels and batteries don't last forever and would presumably require the same or similar supply chain as the microcontrollers. This is a cool project regardless, but in such a catastrophic scenario it seems easier to just give u…

Singer foot pedal sewing machine style power for electronics would be one possibility. Of course those would have to be scavenged too given the lack of skilled blacksmiths these days.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#53

Post by hoseja »

reitzensteinm wrote: post #48
nradov wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We will need to calculate ballistics tables for our trebuchets in order to lay siege to neighboring towns.

Are there any works of fiction like this? A broadly competent medieval society that has scarce supplies of recovered present day technology. There is no end to post apocalyptic fiction but usually it's set fairly soon after the collapse, or the technology uncovered is mysterious and futuristic. Good chance I'm outing myself as an infrequent reader of science fiction asking this!

The criminally underwatched "See" is one such fiction. It might be somewhat cheesy but I loved the worldbuilding.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#54

Post by dejv »

omneity wrote: post #16

CollapseOS provides the computation substrate, but is anyone thinking about the kind of computations post apocalyptic communities / individuals might be needing to run? I imagine things like ledgers, basic simulations, farming yield prediction... I couldn't find design documents besides the technical constraints it is willing to be compatible with.

Most of the machinery both industrial and in home are now computer controlled. Things like furnaces, CNC machining centers and lathes.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#55

Post by aruggirello »

neartheplain wrote: post #26
crmrc114 wrote: post #2

I like the honesty on https://collapseos.org/civ.html but I get a very John Titor vibe from the author- To be honest if we have the collapse he envisions I think most people would be too worried about food to care about bootstrapping something on random hardware. However cyberpunk or fallout cool the idea is... still, was a fun read.

Just looked up John Titor on Wikipedia: John Titor is a name used on several bulletin boards during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be an American military time traveler from 2036. Titor made numerous vague and specific predictions regarding calamitous events in 2004 and beyond, including a nuclear war, none of which came true. Subsequent closer examination of Titor's assertions provoked widespread skepticism.…

HN thread also worth reading:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22558182

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#56

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

crmrc114 wrote: post #2

I like the honesty on https://collapseos.org/civ.html but I get a very John Titor vibe from the author- To be honest if we have the collapse he envisions I think most people would be too worried about food to care about bootstrapping something on random hardware. However cyberpunk or fallout cool the idea is... still, was a fun read.

His expectations ("predictions"?) are predicated on three things: climate-change, peak-oil and "cultural bankruptcy".

I understand the most realistic scenarios for climate-change do indeed suck for everyone involved, but won't lead to mass human extinction - and the predictions of "water wars" were not grounded in realpolitk.

Of peak-oil being a harbinger of imminent societal collapse is immediately bunk: the world's economically leading countries and supranationals have already put in place plans for post-oil sustainability - such as fossil-fuel car sale bans within 10 years. Furthermore Covid has demonstrated that society carries on functioning when air-travel is cut to a fraction of its former volume - leaving only international shipping and road-haulage as the remaining oil consumers without a decent post-oil plan yet - but it's demonstrable that there's plenty of oil left to keep those services running for decades with current proven reserves - considerably more-so with the expected end of gas-powered cars within a couple of decades.

The author's definition of "cultural bankruptcy" seems to be "the US is exporting individualism to the world, which will mean an inevitable decline to non-cooperation and (insert your preferred game-theory metaphor here)". Whatever one may think of that, he doesn't establish a reasoned connection between the two - just hand-waving.

I think the author just has an anxiety disorder that needs better management.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#57

Post by QuesnayJr »

neartheplain wrote: post #26
crmrc114 wrote: post #2

I like the honesty on https://collapseos.org/civ.html but I get a very John Titor vibe from the author- To be honest if we have the collapse he envisions I think most people would be too worried about food to care about bootstrapping something on random hardware. However cyberpunk or fallout cool the idea is... still, was a fun read.

Just looked up John Titor on Wikipedia: John Titor is a name used on several bulletin boards during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be an American military time traveler from 2036. Titor made numerous vague and specific predictions regarding calamitous events in 2004 and beyond, including a nuclear war, none of which came true. Subsequent closer examination of Titor's assertions provoked widespread skepticism.…

I was just wondering if people ever claim to be time travelers from the future, and if so what kind of reception they get.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#59

Post by cturner »

reitzensteinm wrote: post #48
nradov wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We will need to calculate ballistics tables for our trebuchets in order to lay siege to neighboring towns.

Are there any works of fiction like this? A broadly competent medieval society that has scarce supplies of recovered present day technology. There is no end to post apocalyptic fiction but usually it's set fairly soon after the collapse, or the technology uncovered is mysterious and futuristic. Good chance I'm outing myself as an infrequent reader of science fiction asking this!

Check out /A Canticle for Leibowitz/. Each time CollapseOS comes up, I picture a team of monks cycling alternators around the clock to keep a system powered while another compares parchment to a vacuum-tube display.

I think for its chosen niche, the key qualities are (1) low power draw and (2) the ability to boot and be usable with no on-disk storage. The z80 system has that, but you could build something much more powerful. Burn the OS into a rom, have it copy into ram at boot.

Re: Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology

#60

Post by rewir »

dang wrote: post #36

If curious see also 2020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23450287 2020 (a bit) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22901002 2019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21182628 Sharp readers of the FAQ* will note that those 2020 posts mean we should really mark this one as a dupe, but there's something so perfect about prepping meeting operating systems and the language being Forth...I just can't do it. * https:/…

It wasn't posted this year yet. ;)
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