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The '''Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS)''', formerly known as ''Linux-8086'', is a [[Unix-like]] operating system [[kernel (computer science)|kernel]]
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==Features and compatibility==
▲<!-- TODO: add infos about elksemu, running ELKS in dosemu (and maybe qemu and/or bochs), more details about current status?, links to other usages?, check all links, add infos from the FAQ and the "ELKS development tools" below -->
ELKS is [[free software]] and available under the [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL). It can work with early 16-bit x86 (8086, 80186 and 80286) computers like [[IBM PC compatible]] systems, and in [[virtual 8086 mode]], a feature of the 32-bit [[Intel 80386]] and later CPUs found in newer machines. Another useful area are single board microcomputers, intended as educational tools for "[[wikt:homebrew|homebrew]]" projects (hardware [[Hacker (hobbyist)|hacking]]), as well as embedded controller systems (e.g. [[Automation]]).<ref name="Intro">[http://elks.sourceforge.net/introduction.html Introduction to ELKS]</ref>
ELKS also runs on [[Psion Series 3#Psion Series 3a|''Psion 3a'']] and ''3aR'' [[EPOC (operating system)#EPOC16|''SIBO'']] (SIxteen Bit Organiser) [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDA]]s with NEC [[NEC_V20#Variants_and_successors|V30]] CPUs<ref name="Intro">[http://elks.sourceforge.net/introduction.html Introduction to ELKS]</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20011021222654/http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/sibo.php3 Information on SIBO] (archived)</ref>, providing another possible field of operation ([[gadget]] hardware), if ported to such a platform. This effort was called ''ELKSibo''.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050327202617/http://www.mungewell.ndirect.co.uk/linux/ Information on ELKSibo] (archived)</ref>
Native ELKS programs may run [[Emulator|emulated]] with ''Elksemu'', allowing 8086 code to be used under Linux-i386.<ref>[http://linux.die.net/man/1/elksemu Elksemu man page]</ref> An effort to provide ELKS with an [[Eiffel (programming language)|Eiffel]] compliant [[Library (computing)|library]] exists, too.<ref>[http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeelks/ Implementation of ELKS Eiffel library]</ref>
==History==
Development of ''Linux-8086'' started in 1995 by Linux kernel developers [[Alan Cox]] and Chad Page as a [[fork (software development)|fork]] of the standard Linux. By early 1996 the project was renamed ''ELKS'' (Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset), and in 1997 the first website ''www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/'' (offline, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010924210617/http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/ archived here]) was created. ELKS version 0.0.63 followed on August 8 that same year. On June 22, 1999, ELKS release 0.0.77 was available, the first version able to run a [[graphical user interface]] (the [http://www.microwindows.org/ Nano-X Window System]). On July 21, ELKS booted on a [[Psion PLC|Psion]] PDA with SIBO architecture. ELKS 0.0.82 came out on January 10, 2000. By including the SIBO [[Porting|port]], it became the first official version running on other computer [[hardware]] than the original 8086 base. On March 3 that year, the project was registered on [[SourceForge]], the new website being ''elks.sourceforge.net/''.
On January 6, 2001, Cox declared ELKS "basically dead".<ref>January 6, 2001, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010920200533/http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=56220 status update] by Alan Cox (archived)</ref> Nonetheless, release 0.0.84 came along on June 17, 2001, Charilaos (Harry) Kalogirou added TCP/IP networking support seven days later, and in the same year ELKS reached 0.0.90 on November 17. On April 20, 2002, Kalogirou added virtual memory support with disk swapping capability, followed nine days later by ELKS release 0.1.0, considered the first ''[[Development stage#Beta|beta version]]''.<ref name="Rel_Info_old">[http://sourceforge.net/p/elks/news/ Older release information, e.g. on ELKS 0.1.0, the first Beta]</ref> By end of the year, on December 18, the ''EDE'' (Elks Distribution Edition, a distribution based on the ELKS kernel), itself version 0.0.5, is released.<ref>[http://lwn.net/Articles/18400/ Announce of the EDE 0.0.5 release]</ref> January 6, 2003, brought ELKS 0.1.2, an update to 0.1.3 followed on May 3, 2006, the first official release after a long hiatus in development.<ref name="Rel_Info_old">[http://sourceforge.net/p/elks/news/]</ref>
==Current status and usage==
The current EDE version is 0.0.5b.<ref>[http://sourceforge.net/projects/elks/files/ELKS%20Distribution%20Edition%20%28old%29/ EDE SourceForge download page]</ref> More than 30 developers have contributed to this project since the fork in 1995.
▲ELKS runs on [[IBM PC compatible]] systems and on [[Psion PLC|Psion]] SIBO PDAs. It was planned to be developed into the [[FlightLinux]] [[Real-time computing|real-time]] operating system for [[spacecraft]]s, but the project it was intended for ([[UoSAT-12]]) eventually settled on the qCF operating system from Quadron Corporation instead.<ref>[http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-8086/msg00264.html Linux-8086: Flight Linux]</ref>
==See also==
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==External links==
* [http://
* [http://elks
* [http://
* [http://github.com/lkundrak/dev86 Official ELKS development tools page on GitHub]
* [ftp://ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/elks/ FTP site with old ELKS source files]▼
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20120121044117/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert.debath/ Old ELKS development tools], archived for information
* [http://github.com/lkundrak/dev86/tree/master/elksemu Elksemu, part of development tools, on GitHub]
▲* [ftp://ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/elks/ FTP site with old ELKS source files (''dead link'')]
[[Category:Linux kernel]]
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