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[Alexey Toptygin]

On Thu, 3 Aug 2006, Chuck Guzis wrote:

> Maybe, but Linux doesn't have anything like the old QNX demo--an OS and
> browser that boots from a single 1.44MB floppy:
>
> http://toastytech.com/guis/qnxdemo.html
>
> Even back then, it impressed the heck out of me.

They could only get away with that because of the supported hardware:

Hardware requirements:

     * 386 or better.
     * 8 megs of ram.
     * Hardware / RS232 modem (not a winmodem) or NE1000/2000, DEC 21x4x,
 	or 3com 509 based network card.
     * Serial or PS/2 mouse.
     * VGA or Vesa 2.0 compatible card.
     * No hard disk needed

That must be the simplest set of x86 hardware that you can write a 
networked, protected VM OS on; all long-lived, well-defined interfaces, 
and only one set. No disk drivers even :-) Could you fit into such a small 
footprint with their stock kernel? I doubt it; I think this was a special 
build.

Then there's their entirely in-house userland. Could you fit a variety of 
things written by different groups? Again, I doubt it; code would be 
duplicated, and it would be hard to remove everything non-essential 
without removing something essential attached to it.

I don't hate QNX, but for some reason this demo has always irked me; I 
don't feel it's fair to compare a nifty trick to a complete minimal 
system. If you want to do something practical on x86, you'll need a lot 
more than one floppy. Today's debian installer needs 2 1.44 floppies of 
drivers on top of the most common ones built into the kernel (which lives 
on its own 1.44 floppy).

 			Alexey