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diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f58007 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +# linux-486 + +This repo provides the files necessary to build a Linux-based "operating system" for old i486 systems with at least 8MB of RAM. + +The generated single floppy disk image allows you to boot into a Busybox system that is kept entirely in memory, freeing up the floppy disk drive for other disks/data. + +The boot process goes: +* GRUB 0.96 boots Linux. +* Linux loads an embedded initramfs with a "preinit" init binary. +* "preinit" mounts the floppy disk, decompresses busybox into the root ramdisk filesystem, then unmounts the floppy. +* busybox runs its own init process, bringing you to a shell. + +To test the floppy image with QEMU, provide at least 8320K of RAM. + |