Technology can do wonders. Again, tech developers have come up with a new futuristic operating system that can combat the post-Apocalypse situation. There are nuclear weapons, climatic disasters, and tech hazards due to which it seems that the future could be disastrous. To curb this situation, if any, technology comes at our rescue. Collapse OS has built to deal with the dark days of the human world.
Be it a post-apocalyptic future or nuclear wasteland, with technology human beings can always have an upper hand. The mastermind behind Collapse OS is Virgil Dupras, a software developer. Explaining his project he said that, people in the future need to reconfigure their scavenged iPhone. At the moment, Virgil Dupras is looking for contributors to this project by hosting the project on GitHub.
In his email, Dupras said, “I’m doing this to mitigate a risk that I think is real. Not inevitable, but likely enough to warrant a modest effort,”. As per Collapse OS site and futuristic vision of Dupras is the global supply chain will collapse by the end of 2030. This could be no less than medium-apocalypse where it becomes difficult to manufacture electronics. Those who can reprogram electronics will take advantage as compared to others.
Dupras thinks that micro controllers will be a major issue for tech-savvy post-apocalyptic people. Microcontrollers are small computers integrated into circuit boards that operate and regulate the functions of a computer system.
The Collapse OS Website reads that “Computers, after a couple of decades, will break down beyond repair and we won’t be able to program microcontrollers anymore. To avoid this fate, we need to have a system that can be designed from scavenged parts and program microcontrollers.”
Collapse OS has Z80 8-bit microprocessors. Most of the computers are running on 16- and 32-bit components today, but still 8-bit Z80 can be easily found in graphing calculators, desktop computers, musical instruments, and alike gadgets.
On the Reddit online community, Dupras explained the reason for choosing Z80. He said, “because it’s been in production for so long and because it’s been used in so many machines, scavenger have good chances of getting their hands on it.”
Dupras further explained about Collapse OS that “run on minimal and improvised machines, interface through improvised [keyboards, displays, and mice], edit text files, compile assembler source files for a wide range of MCUs and CPUs, read and write from a wide range of storage devices, and replicate itself.”
Fetching more information on Collapse OS through its product page, Collapse OS presently runs on homebrew Z80-based computer called the RC2014, which runs theoretically on the Sega Genesis console.
Expressing his view on Collapse OS, Dupras says, “I think I could finish it by myself, but I thought it would be more fun to do with a couple of other developers,” He further added,
“Participation requires a very specific set of inclinations (believing in collapse) and skills (electronics and z80 assembly). I think that very few people fitting those requirements exist. But if they do, I’d like to find them.”