/linux.micrognu

This is a simple, lightweight GUI-based Linux distribution designed to run on QEMU. It combines the Linux Kernel 6.9.4, BusyBox 1.36.1 for essential Unix utilities, and Nano-X (MicroWindows) for graphical capabilities.

Simple GUI-Based Linux Distro Creation Guide

This guide will walk you through creating a simple graphical Linux distribution based on BusyBox and Nano-X, adapted to run on QEMU.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have a Debian-based system and install the necessary dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget bzip2 libncurses-dev flex bison bc libelf-dev libssl-dev xz-utils autoconf gcc make libtool git vim libpng-dev libfreetype-dev g++ extlinux nano

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Download and Prepare the Linux Kernel

  1. Download the Linux Kernel:

    wget https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.9.4.tar.xz

  2. Extract the Kernel:

    tar xf linux-6.9.4.tar.xz
cd linux-6.9.4

  3. Configure the Kernel:

    make menuconfig

  4. Compile the Kernel:

    make -j 4

  5. Create a Directory for the Distro:

    mkdir /distro
cp arch/x86/boot/bzImage /distro/

2. Set Up BusyBox

  1. Download BusyBox:

    cd ~
wget https://busybox.net/downloads/busybox-1.36.1.tar.bz2

  2. Extract BusyBox:

    tar xf busybox-1.36.1.tar.bz2
cd busybox-1.36.1

  3. Configure BusyBox:

    make menuconfig

  4. Compile and Install BusyBox:

    make -j 4
make CONFIG_PREFIX=/distro install

3. Set Up MicroWindows

  1. Clone MicroWindows:

    git clone https://github.com/ghaerr/microwindows
cd microwindows/src/

  2. Configure MicroWindows:

    cp Configs/config.linux-fb config
nano config

  3. Compile MicroWindows:

    make -j 4
make install
make x11-demo

  4. Set Up a Sample GUI Application:

    mkdir x11-demo
cd x11-demo/
nano gui.c

  5. Compile the GUI Application:

    cd ..
mv x11-demo /distro/
cd /distro/x11-demo/
gcc gui.c -lNX11 -lnano-X -I /microwindows/src/nx11/X11-local/
mv a.out /distro/nirs-test-app

4. Prepare the Distro Environment

  1. Create Necessary Directories:

    mkdir -p /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
mkdir /distro/lib64

  2. Copy Required Libraries:

    cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlidec.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlidec.so.1
cp /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /distro/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlicommon.so.1 /distro/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbrotlicommon.so.1

  3. Copy Nano-X Binaries:

    cp -r /microwindows/src/bin /distro/nanox
cp /microwindows/src/runapp /distro/nanox/

5. Create the Bootable Image

  1. Create and Format the Image:

    cd /distro/
truncate -s 200MB boot.img
mkfs boot.img
mkdir mnt
mount boot.img mnt

  2. Install Extlinux:

    extlinux -i mnt/

  3. Copy Files to the Image:

    mv bin bzImage lib lib64 linuxrc nanox nirs-test-app sbin usr mnt

  4. Create Additional Directories:

    cd mnt/
mkdir var etc root dev tmp proc

  5. Unmount the Image:

    cd ..
umount mnt

Links

With these steps, you will have created a simple graphical Linux distribution ready to run on QEMU.