Alan Cox: Linux 8086

From:   Alan Cox 
To:     linux-kernel-announce@vger.kernel.org
Subject:        Linux 8086
Date:   01 Apr 2002 01:30:03 +0100      

Do you wish you could run Linux on your old IBM/XT or indeed the original IBM 
PC itself ?

We are pleased to announce that Linux 8086 has now reached the point where
it is ready for some wider testing. Harry Kalogirou has the TCP/IP stack
functioning, and the rest of the system - though a little incomplete -
is operating nicely. Not all compile options build admittedly, but it
does boot, it does run and it does have a web server.

It has taken a lot of work to squash so much into so little room, and we
all have developed a great deal of respect for K&R along the way. Special
thanks must go to
        Harry Kalogirou (TCP/IP)
        Riley Williams (our persistent CVS housekeeper)
        Alistair Riddoch (large chunks of the earlier code)

and the rest of the contributors (some twenty or more)

You will need the dev86 compiler kit (bcc for 8086, linker, tools), and
a machine with 640K of RAM (booter assumption for now). EMS and extended
memory is not yet supported. 286 machines will work but the 286 protected
mode is not yet supported. A single floppy will do for a complete library and
tools install. For hard disk devices 20Mb is vastly more than you will need.

For reference an original IBM PC clocks in at 0.7 bogomips. 

A port to the PSION 3 is underway, along with disk based swapping.

http://elks.sourceforge.net/

Alan