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Hackaday · MinimalismCurated

A modern Linux kernel still fits on a floppy disk

Summary

Action Retro trims Linux 6.14 and BusyBox down so far that a bootable system runs from a 1.44 megabyte floppy disk. The kernel used comes from Linux 6.14. The target medium holds about 1.44 megabytes.

Ideas

  • A minimal kernel configuration removes drivers that are not needed.
  • BusyBox bundles many tools in one binary.
  • A 486 serves as a period-appropriate test system.

Insights

  • Extreme size limits reveal hidden dependencies of modern systems.
  • Old media themselves become a reliability problem for an experiment.

Recommendations

  • Document every kernel option you remove.
  • Also keep images on more modern storage media.

References

Read the original article

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