Introduction to ELKS

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The goal of the ELKS project is to create a Linux-like kernel for:

• 8086 and 80286 class IBM Personal Computer compatible systems,
• Palmtop Computers, such as the Psion SiBO (Sixteen Bit Organiser),
• Single board microcomputers,
• Virtual-8086 mode on 386+ CPUs
• Embedded controller systems, and
• Other old computers.

The current status of the ELKS project on the various supported architectures is:

1. ELKS currently runs on IBM Personal Computer compatible systems. On this architecture, the ELKS kernel image needs about 200K, and a full running system should require between 400K and 512K of RAM.

2. ELKS currently runs on the Psion SiBO (Sixteen Bit Organiser) palmtop computer.

3. There is no known version of ELKS for any other architecture.

The Linux operating system is used as the development platform for ELKS at the moment.

The ELKS source releases include ready built kernel and root disk images to ease first steps with ELKS.

This document is released under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence, version 2 only.