LUnix, short for "Little Unix", is a
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
multi-tasking operating system designed to run natively on the
Commodore 64 and
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, C= 128,The "C=" represents the graphical part of the logo. is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the ...
"LUnix Sourceforge Homepage"
Retrieved on 2010-08-28 home computer systems. It supports TCP/IP
The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...
networking ( SLIP or PPP using an RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' ('' data terminal equipment'') suc ...
interface). Unlike most Unix-like systems, LUnix is written in 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 (typically pronounced "sixty-five-oh-two" or "six-five-oh-two") William Mensch and the moderator both pronounce the 6502 microprocessor as ''"sixty-five-oh-two"''. is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small te ...
assembly language instead of C.
The first version of LUnix was released in 1993; the current version 0.21 dates from 2004. Amongst others, it supports preemptive multitasking
In computing, preemption is the act of temporarily interrupting an executing task, with the intention of resuming it at a later time. This interrupt is done by an external scheduler with no assistance or cooperation from the task. This preemp ...
, Unix pipes, a variety of protocols like TCP/IP
The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...
, SLIP, PPP and RS-232, dynamic memory management and virtual consoles. It contains a web server
A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initi ...
and clients for telnet
Telnet is an application protocol used on the Internet or local area network to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection. User data is interspersed in-band with Telnet cont ...
, POP3
In computing, the Post Office Protocol (POP) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. POP version 3 (POP3) is the version in common use, and along with IMAP the most comm ...
and FTP and can act as a terminal or terminal server
A terminal server connects devices with a serial port to a local area network (LAN). Products marketed as terminal servers can be very simple devices that do not offer any security functionality, such as data encryption and user authenticatio ...
over RS-232.
LUnix was developed by Daniel Dallmann and contributed by Ilker Ficicilar, Stefan Haubenthal, Maciej Witkowiak and Paul Gardner-Stephen in late 1990s. The first generation LUnix had support for faster RS-232 via clever software tricks, 80 column VIC and VDC screen support, PS/2 keyboard support, and small set of standard Unix commands. It is possible with this first distribution to attach two keyboards and two monitors and one RS-232 terminal to set up a three simultaneous, multitasking sessions on a C128. LUnix also supports 2 MHz mode and boot disk convenience of C128 platform.
LUnix came with an extensive documentation at the time. Well-defined library calls, relocatable code support and decent memory management functions made it possible to develop software for LUnix easily.
See also
* OS-9
OS-9 is a family of real-time, process-based, multitasking, multi-user operating systems, developed in the 1980s, originally by Microware Systems Corporation for the Motorola 6809 microprocessor. It was purchased by Radisys Corp in 2001, and ...
a multi-tasking operating system implemented in native code for the 6809
The Motorola 6809 ("''sixty-eight-oh-nine''") is an 8-bit microprocessor with some 16-bit features. It was designed by Motorola's Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced in 1978. Although source compatible with the earlier Motorola 6800, the 6 ...
microprocessor
* GeckOS
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from .
Geckos ...
a multi-tasking operating system for the 6502, offering binary compatibility with LUnix when linked to lib6502
References
External links
*
Sourceforge project page
lunix.d64 download link in Ilker Ficicilar's CBM site
Unix variants
Commodore 64 software
Free software operating systems
Hobbyist operating systems
Lightweight Unix-like systems
Assembly language software
Discontinued operating systems
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