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"text-based variant of the Linux kernel that doesn't require a MMU can be built" Seems to be possible.

• hnlmorg 3y ago
  “built” and “usable” are two very different things. The resources on an Arduino are so small that you wouldn’t have a usable system. Which is what the other comments on those links you provided also, rightfully, say. I remember seeing a post where someone has ported Linux to a hobby CPU, might have even been built in Minecraft, but it took several days just to boot. That’s the kind of distinction I’m making here. Just because you can compile to the right instruction set, it doesn’t mean you have anything that is even remotely usable as an operating system. The key thing you’re missing here is the size of the kernel, which is bigger than the cache size of the chips. And that’s before you factor in the GNU userland. And without an MMU, addressing all of that is going to be painful on such a low footprint system.