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Contiki Ported To x86

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the reuse-is-recycling dept.

lt writes "The ultra-small Contiki OS has now been ported to the x86. This should give those of you who have an old x86 PC that is too small to run even the smallest of Linux variants, a chance to browse the web, set up a web server, and doing other essential stuff. If you're curious to see how it looks, there is a live VNC demo running."

6 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. VNC by jrockway · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have to say that running VNC on an 8bit computer is amazing. I would have looked at the screenshots, but actually playing around is so much more fun! It makes me want a C64 or old intel computer to run this on :) Does anyone know how to enter an arbitrary URI though, I couldn't do it.

    On another note, for those who thought VNC over 100BaseT was slow, it's even slower when running at 3KiB/s :) Oh well, this will be the first article to ever slashdot a VNC server, I think.

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    My other car is first.
  2. Neat, now let's talk practical. by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Besides the nostalgia/geek factor of running a web browser on your C64 (which I've been doing for years, well cheating by using the 64 as a dumb terminal and running lynx)

    Maybe a Contiki based PDA? Contiki based email stations? Seems you could make such things dirt cheap using this as the OS.

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    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  3. Hack gratia hacking by Futaba-chan · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Somewhere in the depths of my basement, I have an old AT&T 7300 (MC68010-based "Unix PC") with an on-board 8088 PC emulator card that can run old DOS programs. I used the 7300 and some low-level hardware libraries that another hacker wrote in the late 80s/early 90s as my target machine for OS hacking back before I got scooped by Linux. I'm tempted to haul the thing out, snag the Contiki x86 distro, and hack something together to make the two talk to each other.

    Hmm, and with a StarLAN to 10baseT router, I could get the resulting beastie on the net. Hmm....

  4. Re:Pushing the limits of computing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think it also shows what can be done with limited resources. The deverloper has to create more efficiant code. In today's OSes, the bloat of the code is horrendous, ala windoze. Even the "cooler" OSes, like Linuz, have much code that is sub-optimal.

    They say with faster CPUs and more memory will take care of that. Therefore, they can just keep piling on the crap code without thinking of resource constraints, i.e. - memory, cpu power. How long can this really last?

    I commend the people who have worked on this OS. Some may see it as useless, I see it as hope that there will be better OSes built in the future, once the physical limits of the modern computer are reached.

  5. 1541? by rabidcow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So if it'll run on a C64, will it run on a 1541 disk drive? A GUI would obviously be out, but the processor is essentially the same as the C64 (6502 vs 6510), and it would be amusing to have a web server running on a floppy drive.

  6. Re:New headline for article by suwain_2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm real impressed. It's 14 MHz and it's still running for me. Slashdot can bring down a top-notch server running a fine-tuned install of Linux, but not a 14 MHz box?! It's showing 17 current connections.

    Having a 14 MHz box survive a Slashdotting is a _real_ good ad for the OS it's running. :)

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