From d0b0eee54bec325742a5afde5b283a1edfd50eea Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: rajames Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 05:52:47 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] docs(v4.0.0): MACHINE.md -- what it is for: a multi-user, multitasking OS that init.4th brings up Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 --- docs/v4.0.0/MACHINE.md | 14 ++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+) diff --git a/docs/v4.0.0/MACHINE.md b/docs/v4.0.0/MACHINE.md index 9543e472..9e826d14 100644 --- a/docs/v4.0.0/MACHINE.md +++ b/docs/v4.0.0/MACHINE.md @@ -25,6 +25,20 @@ The ROM is the only binary. It runs the same on the C engine and on the FPGA: on same behaviour. Assemble FORTH from the trailer and the node is a FORTH machine. Assemble Lisp and it would be a Lisp machine. The engine and the ROM do not change. +### 1.1 What it is for + +This is an operating system, not a toy (Captain Bob, 2026-10-15). Once everything is assembled +and compiled, the system is a multi-user, multitasking operating system. That is all the boot +in section 3 makes. + +Then the system's init, `init.4th`, brings it up: +- it turns on security; +- it starts the system a module at a time and a node at a time; +- whoever is logged in gets a prompt: Zuse, `rajames`, `00` to `09`, or whoever it is. + +From the prompt a user can do anything, in FORTH. The operating system's utilities are written +in FORTH. + ## 2. The ROM **What it does.** It reads a named blob and acts on its type: