[ELKS] Should we resume ELKS development?

["jody@jodybruchon.com" <jody@jodybruchon.com>]

Greetings, everyone. As you may be aware, a long time ago I was "handed the
keys" to the ELKS project.  I'd like to discuss the possibility of continuing
development.
 
I have seen a reference to the RTOS "NuttX" and discovered an exchange in which
Gregory Nutt indicated ELKS and NuttX were too different in their goals.
Additionally, NuttX has no i86 port, and as we all know, the hardest steps are
usually the first ones.  Because of these factors, I am hesitant to say "abandon
ELKS and develop NuttX instead."  I am, however, left with the question of
duplicated efforts: what operating systems exist that do the same general thing
as ELKS, and how much overlap is there?  How "far" are they, in terms of overall
usefulness?
 
I'm also becoming curious about what it takes to retarget the bcc compiler for
other 8-bit and 16-bit processors (i.e. MOS 6502/65816, Zilog Z80/Z8000,
Motorola 6800/68000), particularly since there is evidence in the current Dev86
bcc source code where the original compiler supported a Motorola 6809 target
that has been subsequently removed.  While ELKS is currently very i86-specific,
it could prove very beneficial to open up the ability to target more platforms.
 
Finally, I'd like to ask everyone who still reads this list: considering it is
the year 2011, and 8086 machines were superseded more than 20 years ago, should
ELKS development continue at all, and if so, what direction should it take?
(The retargeting suggestion is part of this question.)
 
I have taken the liberty of downloading as much ELKS-related code and materials
as possible, and I am prepared to set up a Git repository for ELKS if enough
interest in such a thing exists.
 
Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone once more.
 
Jody Bruchon
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-8086" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html