Linux on an 8-Bit Micro? (2012)
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderThis is seriously awesome. I take special care to upvote these kinds of projects, as they embody the hacker spirit: hack something that has never been done before in an awesome way, and to hell with practical value!
This always manages to put a smile on my face. This is a pointless but awesome technical achievement, and in the spirit of the old definition of "hacker".
See also ELKS, which can run an (extremely stripped down and extensively rewritten) Linux kernel on a 16-bit 8086: http://elks.sourceforge.net/ Also Fuzix, which can run a Unix-like on a variety of tiny, ancient processors like the Z80 and 6809; I've ported it to the MSP430, a modern micontroller, and I also have a half-finished port to the Raspberry Pi that I must get round to fixing one day (hilariously, the Pi has more RAM than Fuzix can handle)... https://github.com/EtchedPixels/FUZIX Both…
“It takes about 2 hours to boot to bash prompt ("init=/bin/bash" kernel command line). Then 4 more hours to boot up the entire Ubuntu ("exec init" and then login). Starting X takes a lot longer.” I laughed at this - amazing work once again.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 5
- Total points
- 1175
- Total comments
- 289
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-04-20 | Linux on an 8-bit microFirst breakout · Best thread | sigkill | 436 | 74 |
| 2016-01-04 | 8-bit Microcontroller running linux | k_vi | 3 | 0 |
| 2016-09-20 | Linux on an 8-bit micro? (2012) | bootload | 152 | 53 |
| 2017-12-04 | Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller | Ivoah | 172 | 38 |
| 2019-04-27 | Linux on an 8-Bit Micro? (2012)Hall induction | WoodenChair | 192 | 60 |
| 2019-10-19 | Linux on an 8-Bit Micro? | amelius | 5 | 2 |
| 2020-12-21 | Linux on an 8-Bit Micro? (2012) | craigjb | 92 | 25 |
| 2023-10-14 | Linux on an 8bit MicrocontrollerLatest 20+ point return | exar0815 | 123 | 37 |