163 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
163 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
# Mentalnet GNU/Linux
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A light, TTY-only GNU/Linux distribution for 90s Intel Pentium-class
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(i586) machines, built with [Buildroot](https://buildroot.org).
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<p align="center">
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<img src="logos/mnlogo.jpg" alt="Mentalnet GNU/Linux — Modern GNU/Linux for Legacy i586 Pentiums" width="400">
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</p>
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The ISO is a live CD: the entire system runs from the CD with a
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read-only root filesystem, and the same CD carries a built-in hard
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disk installer (`mentalnet-install`).
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## Current release
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**R1 "StreamingHeart"** — named after DECO*27's *ストリーミングハート
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(Streaming Heart)*, feat. Hatsune Miku.
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## Versioning
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- Major releases bump the `R<n>` number (`R1`, `R2`, ...).
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- Minor releases keep the `R<n>` base version and use the codename as
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the minor version.
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- All codenames are taken from Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku or Kasane Teto
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songs.
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| Release | Codename | Song | Notes |
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|---------|----------|------|-------|
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| R1 | Mesmerizer | *Mesmerizer* — 32ki (Hatsune Miku & Kasane Teto) | Initial release |
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| R1 | FirstStorm | *Chūlán ~First Storm~ (初嵐～First Storm～)* — DECO*27 | Swap-free installer, true i586 support, terminal/input hardening, interrupt-storm fixes |
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| R1 | LovePara | *ラブパラ (Love Para)* — DECO*27 feat. Hatsune Miku | app-server stack (PHP/Ruby/Perl, php-fpm, lighttpd `/proxy/` → port 1337), tcc on-target C dev with glibc headers, socat, gesftpserver, SiS 900 / VIA Rhine / Tigon3 NICs, fastfetch, nano, en_US.UTF-8 locale |
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| R1 | **StreamingHeart** | *ストリーミングハート (Streaming Heart)* — DECO*27 feat. Hatsune Miku | **Current** — `runmain.o` for tcc (run C files like scripts without permanent compilation), tmux, custom bash prompt |
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## Quick facts
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| | |
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|---|---|
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| Login | `root` / `mnlinux` |
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| Hostname | `mentalnet` |
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| Kernel | `6.12.104-mentalnet-intel32` |
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| Media | Live CD with built-in installer |
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| CPU | i586 (Pentium / Pentium MMX) or any newer x86 |
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| RAM | 128 MB minimum (64 MB usually works) |
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## Building from source
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This repository is **not** a full Buildroot tree — it is an overlay
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meant to be applied on top of a pristine Buildroot checkout.
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1. Download and extract the pristine Buildroot 2025.02.17 LTS
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tarball (do not use a git checkout of master; this layer is
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written against 2025.02.17):
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```
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wget https://buildroot.org/downloads/buildroot-2025.02.17.tar.gz
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tar xf buildroot-2025.02.17.tar.gz
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cd buildroot-2025.02.17
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```
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2. Copy this repository's contents over the extracted tree,
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preserving paths:
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| Source (this repo) | Destination (Buildroot tree) |
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|--------------------|------------------------------|
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| `board/mentalnet/` | `board/mentalnet/` |
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| `fs/iso9660/grub.cfg` | `fs/iso9660/grub.cfg` — **overwrites an upstream file** |
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| `.config` | `.config` |
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| `logos/`, `README.md`, `LICENSE` | same paths (repo-local, not used by the build) |
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3. Build:
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```
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make
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```
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Host dependencies are listed in the
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[Buildroot manual](https://buildroot.org/downloads/manual/manual.html#requirement).
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Outputs land in `output/images/` — see the
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[install guide](board/mentalnet/INSTALL-GUIDE.md) for what each
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artifact is and how to test it.
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The committed `.config` is based on the default i386 defconfig plus
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the Mentalnet selections (GRUB2 embedded config, e2fsprogs, getty
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TERM, and so on). Copying it reproduces the released system exactly;
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alternatively, start fresh with `make menuconfig` and roll your own.
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## Security after install
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The default root password is **`mnlinux`** — please change it after
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installing:
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```
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passwd
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```
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Then, for day-to-day use, create a regular user and give it sudo
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privileges (sudo is included in the build):
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```
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adduser myuser
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```
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You have two options to grant sudo:
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- Add the user to the `sudo` group, which the shipped sudoers file
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already trusts:
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```
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addgroup myuser sudo
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```
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- Or, if you prefer the classic `wheel` group, enable it with
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`visudo` (uncomment the `%wheel` line) and add the user to it:
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```
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visudo
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addgroup myuser wheel
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```
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**Verify that sudo works for the new user before locking root** —
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log in as the user and run, for example, `sudo ls /`.
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Once sudo is confirmed working, lock the root account so it cannot
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be accessed (SSH included):
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```
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passwd -l root
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```
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## Documentation
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The full install and test guide — hardware requirements, QEMU
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testing, the install walkthrough and troubleshooting — lives in
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[`board/mentalnet/INSTALL-GUIDE.md`](board/mentalnet/INSTALL-GUIDE.md).
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## License
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Mentalnet GNU/Linux — the scripts, configuration, documentation and
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artwork added on top of Buildroot (`board/mentalnet/`, `logos/`,
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`README.md`, `LICENSE`, and the modifications made to Buildroot
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files) — is
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> Copyright (C) 2026 Mark Robillard Jr (MARKMENTAL)
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>
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> SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
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This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
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(at your option) any later version. See [`LICENSE`](LICENSE).
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The underlying [Buildroot](https://buildroot.org) tree remains under
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its original license (see [`COPYING`](COPYING), GPL-2.0-or-later);
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we claim no rights over it. This repository is an overlay meant to
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be applied on top of a pristine Buildroot 2025.02.17 tree, not a
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full fork.
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The OS image produced by the build is an aggregation of many
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components, each of which keeps its own license (the Linux kernel is
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GPL-2.0, BusyBox is GPL-2.0, and so on).
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The Mentalnet logo (`logos/mnlogo.jpg`) is part of this project and
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licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later with the rest of it.
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