
"It is common to see newbies asking in microcontroller forums if they can run Linux on their puny little 8-bit micro. The results are usually laughter. It is also common to see, in Linux forums, asked what the minimum specs for Linux are. The common answer is that it requires a 32-bit architecture and an MMU and at least a megabyte of ram to fit the kernel.
This project aims to (and succeeds in) shatter(ing) these notions. The board you see on the right is based on an ATmega1284p. I've made one with an ATmega644a as well, with equal success. This board features no other processor and boots Linux 2.6.34. In fact, it can even bring up a full Ubuntu stack, including (if you have the time) X and gnome."
Member since:
2006-05-04
I agree... instead of all the "I can run linux on x", it would be much more interesting to create an OS for a 8-bit CPU that implements all necessary apis to be able to compile the GNU userland on it.
Like so many other people, I'm not really impressed. Or let's put it like this: I'm impressed that he managed to create the electronics, I'm impressed that he wrote an emulator that is good enough to run a linux system on it... But I'm not at all impressed with the claim "I can run Linux on an 8-bit CPU".
Edited 2012-04-01 10:17 UTC