16-bit Linux-like Goodness
We see many 16-bit retrocomputers around here based on Intel and Intel-like chips such as the 8086, 8088, V20, and similar. While they don’t seem very powerful by today’s standards, they were perfectly capable machines and, thanks to Elks (Embeddedable Linux Kernel Subset), you can run something fairly Linux-like on these devices.
The requirements are light: 512K of RAM is desirable, but you can do something with 256K. If you have ROM, you can even get by with 128K. Most importantly, the system doesn’t require a memory management unit to remap memory like many operating systems.
The project has been around for a bit, but has had some recent updates both for the runtime and the build system. For example, you can now build under WSL or using the Open Watcom C compiler. Executables are now compressed, and there’s a new cache system. The kernel and standard library no longer use long division, to improve perfomance.
If you want to try the system, you can boot it in an emulator on your browser. Just log in as “root.” There’s even a fake serial port available. Plus you can play Adventure. Or Doom.
We’ve seen Elks in some very strange places. Really strange.