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Top 23 C Retrocomputing Projects
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Mandatory link to 1-2-3 running on Linux
https://github.com/taviso/123elf?tab=readme-ov-file
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Project mention: The atrocious state of binary compatibility on Linux and how to address it | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-04-01
> GLIBC is an example of a "system library" that cannot be bundled with your application because it includes the dynamic linker itself. This linker is responsible for loading other libraries, some of which may also depend on GLIBC—but not always.
Running WordPerfect on modern Linux is done by shipping both of those components:
https://github.com/taviso/wpunix
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esp32_usb_soft_host
ESP32 software USB host through general IO pins. We can connect up to 4 USB-LS HID (keyboard mouse joystick) devices simultaneously.
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InfluxDB
InfluxDB high-performance time series database. Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-resolution data to power real-time intelligent systems.
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lzsa
Byte-aligned, efficient lossless packer that is optimized for fast decompression on 8-bit micros
Project mention: lzsa: Byte-aligned compressor with fast decompression on 8-bit micros | news.ycombinator.com | 2024-12-03 -
Project mention: Serena: An experimental operating system for 32bit Amiga computers | news.ycombinator.com | 2024-08-13
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Project mention: A note on the USB-to-PS/2 mouse adapter that came with Microsoft mouse devices | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-03-27
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RetroWiFiModem
An ESP8266 based RS232 <-> WiFi modem with Hayes AT style commands and LED indicators
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Indeed! An eventual goal of Onramp is to bootstrap in freestanding so we can boot directly into the VM without an OS. This eliminates all binaries except for the firmware of the machine. The stage0/live-bootstrap team has already accomplished this so we know it's possible. Eliminating firmware is platform-dependent and mostly outside the scope of Onramp but it's certainly something I'd like to do as a related bootstrap project.
A modern UEFI is probably a million lines of code so there's a huge firmware trust surface there. One way to eliminate this would be to bootstrap on much simpler hardware. A rosco_m68k [1] is an example, one that has requires no third party firmware at all aside from the non-programmable microcode of the processor. (A Motorola 68010 is thousands of times slower than a modern processor so the bootstrap would take days, but that's fine, I can wait!)
Of course there's still the issue of trusting that the data isn't modified getting into the machine. For example you have to trust the tools you're using to flash EEPROM chips, or if you're using an SD card reader you have to trust its firmware. You also have to trust that your chips are legit, that the Motorola 68010 isn't a modern fake that emulates it while compromising it somehow. If you had the resources you'd probably want to x-ray the whole board at a minimum to make sure the chips are real. As for trusting ROM, I have some crazy ideas on how to get data into the machine in a trustable way, but I'm not quite ready to embarrass myself by saying them out loud yet :)
[1]: https://rosco-m68k.com/
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sims
Burroughs B5500, ICL1900, SEL32, IBM 360/370, IBM 7000 and DEC PDP10 KA10/KI10/KL10/KS10, PDP6 simulators for SimH
Richard Cornwell's emulator is implemented within the OpenSimH framework, and forms the basis of PiDP-10:
https://github.com/rcornwell/sims/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-...
From the GitHub entry:
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64tass
64tass - cross assembler for 6502 etc. microprocessors - by soci/singular - [git clone from the original sourceforge repo]
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rgb2amiga
Converts RGB images (png, jpeg, etc.) to IFF/ILBM files tailored for Amiga OCS/ECS (Amiga 1000, 2000, 3000, 500, 500+, 600).
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NOTE:
The open source projects on this list are ordered by number of github stars.
The number of mentions indicates repo mentiontions in the last 12 Months or
since we started tracking (Dec 2020).
C Retrocomputing discussion
C Retrocomputing related posts
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The atrocious state of binary compatibility on Linux and how to address it
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A look back: WordPerfect on DOS (2023)
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Debugging Lotus 1-2-3 by fax
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lzsa: Byte-aligned compressor with fast decompression on 8-bit micros
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WordPerfect for Unix Character Terminals
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HIDman Adapting USB devices to work on old computers
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DOjS – A DOS JavaScript Canvas with Sound
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A note from our sponsor - SaaSHub
www.saashub.com | 23 Apr 2025
Index
What are some of the best open-source Retrocomputing projects in C? This list will help you:
| # | Project | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 123elf | 1,192 |
| 2 | DOjS | 890 |
| 3 | wpunix | 690 |
| 4 | esp32_usb_soft_host | 455 |
| 5 | vAmiga | 341 |
| 6 | CROSS-LIB | 326 |
| 7 | bbc-fdc | 253 |
| 8 | json65 | 241 |
| 9 | lzsa | 239 |
| 10 | Serena | 229 |
| 11 | USB4VC | 227 |
| 12 | RetroWiFiModem | 203 |
| 13 | rosco_m68k | 166 |
| 14 | lotusdrv | 150 |
| 15 | jSH | 114 |
| 16 | apultra | 106 |
| 17 | sims | 100 |
| 18 | pico-rgb2hdmi | 94 |
| 19 | PicoWiFiModem | 48 |
| 20 | 64tass | 40 |
| 21 | portfolio_os | 34 |
| 22 | portfolio_os_m2 | 23 |
| 23 | rgb2amiga | 22 |
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