alfreb/rex86

gnx86 is not x86. But it is rex86 and rex86 emulates x86. It's a free (as in freedom) computer, or at least a seed for one.

Free computers are necessary for GNUsers, since the GNU freedoms must include hardware to make any sense.

The rex86 is a computer according to the following definition:

(Computer) A working implementation of a turing complete language, using finite memory

That means it's not necessarily a physical thing, but one of the goals of this project is that one day it might be.

###What it's currently supposed to be:

• A C++ implementation of a Turing complete register machine
• Very small
• Extremely inefficient

###What it's supposed to become:

• A pysically implementable computer
  • using a small subset of the x86 instruction set
  • With basic interrupt support
  • Serial-like I/O ports, each supporting interrupts
  • Probably no interrupt timer, except over serial I/O
• A functioning virtual machine
• Extremely small, but maybe less extremely inefficient

###Why does size matter? Because if you really want to control your own computing you have to be able to read, and understand the source code of both your software and your hardware, in less than a lifetime. That's usually very optimistic, but if you want to be a true GNU Purist, you should. (Personally I'd become a GNU Purist only if there was awesome free (as in freedom) hardware available, which makes me a pragmatist.)

###What's in a name? The original name, "gnx86" is a recursive acronym for "gnx86 is not x86". The first letter of the name is of course arbitrary, but a kind of tip to the hat to GNU. The name would sound cooler if it was an actual word as well, such as "gnu" or "emu". Unfortunately there are no animal names that end with x86 - except for Tyrannosaurus Rex86. Hence the name change to rex86. Also, rex86 emulates, escapes, embeds, extends, enjoys, entangles or enrages x86.