[UFO Chicago] Now Taking Requests For Free Operating Systems

[Carl Karsten]

boot straight into MicroPython.   it runs on bare mettle
microcontrollers, no OS other than some OS like things that are part
of the binary.

https://micropython.org/

I have no idea how much work this would be.  I would be surprised if
no one has tried it.

On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 2:26 PM Jay F. Shachter <jay at m5.chicago.il.us> wrote:
>
>
> Esteemed Colleagues:
>
> One of my clients sent me a laptop on which Microsoft Windows had been
> installed, because he needed me to teach an online class to a customer
> who, for security reasons, insisted on using Adobe Connect rather than
> Zoom for the videoconference platform, and the Adobe Connect client
> only works properly on Windows, and I didn't own a laptop on which
> Windows had been installed (except for one where it had been
> installed, but it doesn't work).
>
> So now I had a laptop in my possession that could boot only Microsoft
> Windows.  This is, of course, a waste of disk storage, and, although
> disk storage might no longer be considered a scarce resource, laptop
> computers still are.  I shrunk the Windows system (it still boots, and
> none of its functionality has been impaired).  Onto the disk storage
> thus reclaimed, I have installed 6 free operating systems (so there is
> now a choice of 7 operating systems, when you boot this computer).
> Three of the six are UNIX systems: Solaris 11.4, Springdale (an RHEL
> clone) 9.0, and OpenBSD 7.3.  The other three are non-UNIX systems:
> Haiku r1beta4, 9front (a fork of Plan 9), and FreeDOS 1.3.
>
> I have tried and failed to install ReactOS, Icaros, and SkyOS.  Also
> NetBSD 9.3, which had problems with nouveau.  I have reason to think
> that NetBSD 10 will have better drivers, and I am waiting for it to
> become more stable.
>
> I am now taking requests.  I will bring this laptop to the next
> in-person ufo meeting, and you may all play with it.  What other
> operating systems do you want me to install on it?  In particular, the
> Linux area has room for 2 or 3 more Linux distributions.  I figured
> that one of them ought to be RHEL or an RHEL clone, but I have no
> opinion about the others.  If you could only have 3 or 4 Linux
> distributions on your computer, which ones ought you to have?  I also
> have room for several more non-Linux operating systems.  Which ones do
> you want to see installed on this computer?
>
>            Jay F. Shachter
>            6424 North Whipple Street
>            Chicago IL  60645-4111
>                    (1-773)7613784   landline
>                    (1-410)9964737   GoogleVoice
>                    jay at m5.chicago.il.us
>                    http://m5.chicago.il.us
>
>            "The best way to become famous is to come up with a memorable quote."
>                                 -- anonymous
> _______________________________________________
> UFO Chicago -- Users of Free Operating Systems
> Free Software Rules -- Proprietary Drools!
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-- 
Carl K