Can the NES run Linux? The answer, surprisingly, is yes

Can the NES run Linux? The answer is provided by a YouTuber who has worked hard to achieve it, and surprisingly, it is yes.

One of the oldest questions in computer science is whether any machine can run Doom. An even older one is whether it can run Linux. This shouldn’t surprise us, because both are two pieces of software that, surprisingly, can work in the most unexpected places. And in fact, someone has asked that question in the most unexpected way, can the NES run Linux?

The answer is yes. A YouTuber named DeCrAzYo has managed to run a Unix-based operating system on the classic Nintendo console from the 80s. Not without making some concessions. It is a Japanese Famicom, which is virtually identical to the Western version, and it uses an accessory known as the Famicon Disk System. This device adds 32KB of dedicated RAM and allows for up to 64KB of storage via floppy disk. But in any case, it is still an NES.

This means that the motherboard has not been modified in any way. All materials are original creations by Nintendo. And the chosen system is Little Unix, a portable operating system designed for the Commodore 64, created twenty years ago, which has been modified to run on the NES.

As it is logical, this is a work in progress. DeCrAzYo has released the source code of his version of Little Unix for NES, for anyone who wants to try it or make improvements, allowing the community to contribute to it. Thus demonstrating that, if there is one thing certain in this life, it is that Linux and Doom will eventually be able to run on anything that can behave like a computer.

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Author: Álvaro Arbonés

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