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by lutusp 4654 days ago
> How can the linux kernel compile itself?

Short answer: it can't. Each software system relies for its own existence on a predecessor, usually one of smaller scope. Sort of like biology and evolution.

When I wrote Apple Writer in 1978, there were no high-level development tools available, just a primitive assembler built into the Apple II BIOS. By making direct hand entries, I used the BIOS assembler to write a better, faster assembler that supported alphabetic labels. Then I used that assembler to write a better one, and eventually I had a development tool suitable for writing applications.

Linux development has relied on a similar bootstrap process, on a larger scale.
1 comments
FedRegister 4654 days ago
Just out of curiosity, have you ever written a book about the process of bootstrapping an Apple II development environment and the little discoveries you made? I would read that in a heartbeat.
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lutusp 4654 days ago
> Just out of curiosity, have you ever written a book about the process of bootstrapping an Apple II development environment and the little discoveries you made? I would read that in a heartbeat.

Thanks for this suggestion! I write a lot of articles, but I haven't written much about that period, possibly because other people were writing it for me. But I think it might be interesting to write about that time, how we created software before we had access to high-level languages.

In the meantime, here's an old piece I wrote in those days, even though not quite what you have in mind:

http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/cottage_computer_programmi...

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FedRegister 4654 days ago
The Atari Archives piece was part of what motivated me to ask about this. Another part is the series of books Jordan Mechner has released (in both print and electronically) about the development of Karateka and Prince of Persia. I've found that I enjoy following along the process of discovery almost as much as I enjoy the finished product. There is also a practical benefit: I gain more intellectual tools for tackling obstacles by learning the process others use to tackle obstacles.
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