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+# Collapse OS
+
+*Bootstrap post-collapse technology*
+
+Collapse OS is a collection of programs, tools and documentation that allows
+you to assemble an OS that can:
+
+1. Run on an extremely minimal and improvised architecture.
+2. Communicate through a improvised serial interface linked to some kind of
+   improvised terminal.
+3. Edit text files.
+4. Compile assembler source files for a wide range of MCUs and CPUs.
+5. Write files to a wide range of flash ICs and MCUs.
+6. Access data storage from improvised systems.
+7. Replicate itself.
+
+Additionally, the goal of this project is to be as self-contained as possible.
+With a copy of this project, a capable and creative person should be able to
+manage to build and install Collapse OS without external resources (i.e.
+internet) on a machine of her design, built from scavenged parts with low-tech
+tools.
+
+See the "Goals" section below for details.
+
+## Why?
+
+I expect our global supply chain to collapse before we reach 2030. With this
+collapse, we won't be able to produce most of our electronics because it
+depends on a very complex supply chain that we won't be able to achieve again
+for decades (ever?).
+
+The fast rate of progress we've seen since the advent of electronics happened
+in very specific conditions that won't be there post-collapse, so we can't hope
+to be able to bootstrap new electronic technology as fast we did without a good
+"starter kit" to help us do so.
+
+Electronics yield enormous power, a power that will give significant advantages
+to communities that manage to continue mastering it. This will usher a new age
+of *scavenger electronics*: parts can't be manufactured any more, but we have
+billions of parts lying around. Those who can manage to create new designs from
+those parts with low-tech tools will be very powerful.
+
+Among these scavenged parts are microcontrollers, which are especially powerful
+but need complex tools (often computers) to program them. Computers, after a
+couple of decades, will break down beyond repair and we won't be able to
+program microcontrollers any more.
+
+To avoid this fate, we need to have a system that can be designed from
+scavenged parts and program microcontrollers. We also need the generation of
+engineers that will follow us to be able to *create* new designs instead of
+inheriting a legacy of machines that they can't recreate and barely maintain.
+
+This is where Collapse OS comes in.
+
+## Goals
+
+On face value, goals outlined in the introduction don't seem very ambitious,
+that is, until we take the time to think about what kind of machines we are
+likely to be able to build from scavenged parts without access to (functional)
+modern technology.
+
+By "minimal machine" I mean [Grant Searle's minimal z80 computer][searle].
+This (admirably minimal and elegant) machine runs on 8k of ROM and 56k of RAM.
+Anything bigger starts being much more complex because you need memory paging,
+and if you need paging, then you need a kernel that helps you manage that,
+etc.. Of course, I don't mean that these more complex computers can't be built
+post-collapse, but that if we don't have a low-enough bar, we reduce the
+likeliness for a given community to bootstrap itself using Collape OS.
+
+Of course, with this kind of specs, a C compiler is out of the question. Even
+full-fledged assembler is beginning to stretch the machine's ressources. The
+assembler having to be written in assembler (to be self-replicating), we need
+to design a watered-down version of our modern full-fledged assembler
+languages.
+
+But with assemblers, a text editor and a way to write data to flash, you have
+enough to steadily improve your technological situation, build more
+sophisticated machines from more sophisticated scavenged parts and, who knows,
+in a couple of decades, build a new IC fab (or bring an old one back to life).
+
+## Futile?
+
+For now, this is nothing more than an idea, and a fragile one. This project is
+only relevant if the collapse is of a specific magnitude. A weak-enough
+collapse and it's useless (just a few fabs that close down, a few wars here and
+there, hunger, disease, but people are nevertheless able to maintain current
+technology levels). A big enough collapse and it's even more useless (who needs
+microcontrollers when you're running away from cannibals).
+
+But if the collapse magnitude is right, then this project will change the
+course of our history, which makes it worth trying.
+
+This idea is also fragile because it might not be feasible. It's also difficult
+to predict post-collapse conditions, so the "self-contained" part might fail
+and prove useless to many post-collapse communities.
+
+But nevertheless, this idea seems too powerful to not try it. And even if it
+proves futile, it sounds like a lot of fun to try.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+I'm still fiddling with things, honing my skills and knowledge, so the
+project's roadmap is still hazy.
+
+Initially, I wanted to start the implementation in AVR because that's the only
+MCU I know and because I like it, but AVR's architecture doesn't fit well with
+the idea of an OS. Very limited RAM and no reasonable way of running programs
+from RAM.
+
+I've been looking at z80 and it's very interesting. There's a good amount of
+great z80-related hacks all around the internet, and the z80 CPU is very
+scavenge-friendly: it's been (and is) included in tons of devices.
+
+[KnightOS][knightos] is a very good starting point. Of course, it can't be
+directly used in the context of Collapse OS because it's an OS for a specific
+set of machines rather than improvised designs, but there are many interesting
+bits and pieces of assembly in there that can be used.
+
+The first question that needs answering is: how feasible is it to write a
+self-assembling z80 assembler that runs on 56K of RAM and compiles an OS? Once
+that question is answered positively, then the project becomes much more solid.
+
+After a good proof of concept is done in z80, then more architectures can be
+added into the mix. I have the intuition that we can mix AVR and z80 in a very
+elegant minimal and powerful machine and it would be great if a Collapse OS
+spawn could be built for such machine.
+
+Of course, there are so many PIC chips around that the project would be much
+more useful with a way to program some of them, so there's also that to do.
+
+Then comes the thinking about how to anticipate the need for ad-hoc terminals
+and storage devices. Modern computer screens are rather fragile and will be
+hard to repair. Post-collapse engineers will need to hack their way around
+scavenged display devices. What kind of tools will they need? Same question for
+storage.
+
+## 32-bit? 16-bit?
+
+Why go as far as 8-bit machines? There are some 32-bit ARM chips around that
+are protoboard-friendly.
+
+First, because I think there are more scavenge-friendly 8-bit chips around than
+scavenge-friendly 16-bit or 32-bit chips.
+
+Second, because those chips will be easier to replicate in a post-collapse fab.
+If the first chips we're able to create post-collapse are low-powered, we might
+as well design a system that works well on low-powered chips.
+
+That being said, nothing stops the project from including the capability of
+programming an ARM or RISC-V chip.
+
+That being said, the MSP430 seems like a really nice and widely used chip...
+
+## Risking ridicule
+
+Why publish this hazy roadmap now and risk ridicule? Because I'm confident
+enough that I want to pour significant efforts into this in the next few years
+and because I have the intuition that it's feasible. I'm looking for early
+feedback and possibly collaboration. I don't have a formal electronic training,
+all my knowledge and experience come from fiddling as a hobbyist. If feasible
+and relevant (who knows, IPCC might tell us in 10 years "good job, humans!
+we've been up to the challenge! We've solved climate change!". Does this idea
+sound more or less crazy to you than what you've been reading in this text so
+far?), I will probably need help to pull this off.
+
+[searle]: http://searle.hostei.com/grant/z80/SimpleZ80.html
+[knightos]: https://knightos.org/