4 ms·

Thank you (and thanks to everybody else for their helpful answers). Your note on intel processors meaning in theory programs should run on all operating systems

Thank you (and thanks to everybody else for their helpful answers). Your note on intel processors meaning in theory programs should run on all operating systems was most helpful and got me across the line - now I get it!

jart 6y ago
That's pretty much it. Cosmopolitan Libc is the simplest project that could have happened decades ago. Anyone could have built it. There's never been a technical reason why an x86 binary can't run on all x86 operating systems. It's just that traditionally only operating systems publish C libraries, and they have no incentive to spend money supporting their competitors. So it's the kind of project that could only happen if it was done by an indie developer just trying to have fun.
- fctorial 6y ago
  Another reason is that it requires fairly thorough knowledge of 7 different programming environments. Most people don't understand 1.
  - jart 6y ago
    The only programming environment I used to build this was Emacs on Linux. The rest was simply researching the magic numbers needed to use the binary interface of each system. I figured life's too short to be pulling my hair out with MSVC/Xcode warnings.
    - fctorial 6y ago
      s/programming environments/systems/
- thysultan 6y ago
  How does one unzip the .com file? Is that even possible or have i misunderstood how it works?
  - jart 6y ago
    I recommend using InfoZIP on the Linux or Mac command line. For example, to list the files that are in your .com executables you can run a command like: $ wget https://justine.lol/redbean/redbean-2021-02-27.com $ unzip -vl redbean-2021-02-27.com Archive: redbean-2021-02-27.com Length Method Size Cmpr Date Time CRC-32 Name -------- ------ ------- ---- ---------- ----- -------- ---- 426 Defl:N 215 50% 02-09-2021 09:24 f9cc9464 tool/net/redbean.css 896 Defl:N 509 43% 02-09-2021 09:24 eb74f8a0 tool/net/redbean.html 16958 Defl:N 6093 64% 02-09-2021 09:24 6a76bd39 tool/net/redbean.ico 5073 Stored 5073 0% 02-09-2021 09:24 86c2afe6 tool/net/redbean.png 554 Defl:N 285 49% 02-09-2021 09:24 0aa6870a usr/share/zoneinfo/Beijing 2335 Defl:N 1093 53% 02-09-2021 09:24 6ccd4450 usr/share/zoneinfo/Berlin 2453 Defl:N 1170 52% 02-09-2021 09:24 7fed6d80 usr/share/zoneinfo/Boulder ... Another ZIP tool that works well with APE is Windows 10 file explorer. But you have to change the extension from .com to .zip temporarily.
- lambda_obrien 6y ago
  Does cosmolibc allow you to run on bare metal? If so, I've got an old project in mind that you may have just made happen, and I'm very very excited to know!
  - collinmanderson 6y ago
    "Actually Portable Executable"s can boot from BIOS if that's what you're wondering. https://justine.lol/ape.html https://justine.lol/ape.html
    - lambda_obrien 6y ago
      Cool, thanks! I missed that before. It makes a project idea I had way more realistic for me to implement.

jart 6y ago

That's pretty much it. Cosmopolitan Libc is the simplest project that could have happened decades ago. Anyone could have built it. There's never been a technical reason why an x86 binary can't run on all x86 operating systems. It's just that traditionally only operating systems publish C libraries, and they have no incentive to spend money supporting their competitors. So it's the kind of project that could only happen if it was done by an indie developer just trying to have fun.

fctorial 6y ago
Another reason is that it requires fairly thorough knowledge of 7 different programming environments. Most people don't understand 1.
- jart 6y ago
  The only programming environment I used to build this was Emacs on Linux. The rest was simply researching the magic numbers needed to use the binary interface of each system. I figured life's too short to be pulling my hair out with MSVC/Xcode warnings.
  - fctorial 6y ago
    s/programming environments/systems/
thysultan 6y ago
How does one unzip the .com file? Is that even possible or have i misunderstood how it works?
- jart 6y ago
  I recommend using InfoZIP on the Linux or Mac command line. For example, to list the files that are in your .com executables you can run a command like: $ wget https://justine.lol/redbean/redbean-2021-02-27.com $ unzip -vl redbean-2021-02-27.com Archive: redbean-2021-02-27.com Length Method Size Cmpr Date Time CRC-32 Name -------- ------ ------- ---- ---------- ----- -------- ---- 426 Defl:N 215 50% 02-09-2021 09:24 f9cc9464 tool/net/redbean.css 896 Defl:N 509 43% 02-09-2021 09:24 eb74f8a0 tool/net/redbean.html 16958 Defl:N 6093 64% 02-09-2021 09:24 6a76bd39 tool/net/redbean.ico 5073 Stored 5073 0% 02-09-2021 09:24 86c2afe6 tool/net/redbean.png 554 Defl:N 285 49% 02-09-2021 09:24 0aa6870a usr/share/zoneinfo/Beijing 2335 Defl:N 1093 53% 02-09-2021 09:24 6ccd4450 usr/share/zoneinfo/Berlin 2453 Defl:N 1170 52% 02-09-2021 09:24 7fed6d80 usr/share/zoneinfo/Boulder ... Another ZIP tool that works well with APE is Windows 10 file explorer. But you have to change the extension from .com to .zip temporarily.
lambda_obrien 6y ago
Does cosmolibc allow you to run on bare metal? If so, I've got an old project in mind that you may have just made happen, and I'm very very excited to know!
- collinmanderson 6y ago
  "Actually Portable Executable"s can boot from BIOS if that's what you're wondering. https://justine.lol/ape.html https://justine.lol/ape.html
  - lambda_obrien 6y ago
    Cool, thanks! I missed that before. It makes a project idea I had way more realistic for me to implement.