Build Toolchain

BoredOS is built cross-compiled from a host system (such as macOS or Linux) to target the generic x86_64-elf platform.

Prerequisites

To build BoredOS, you need the following tools:

x86_64 ELF GCC Cross-Compiler:
- x86_64-elf-gcc: The C compiler targeting the freestanding overarching ELF environment.
- x86_64-elf-ld: The linker to combine object files into the final boredos.elf kernel binary and userland variables.
NASM:
- Required to compile the .asm files in src/arch/ and src/userland/crt0.asm. It formats the output as elf64 objects to be linked alongside the C code.
xorriso:
- A specialized tool to create ISO 9660 filesystem images.
- Why? xorriso packages the compiled kernel, Limine bootloader, and asset files (fonts, images, userland binaries) into the final bootable boredos.iso CD-ROM image.
QEMU (Optional but highly recommended for testing):
- qemu-system-x86_64 is used for rapid emulation and testing.

Installation (macOS)

You can easily install the complete toolchain using Homebrew:

brew install x86_64-elf-binutils x86_64-elf-gcc nasm xorriso qemu

Installation (Linux)

Depending on your distribution, the installation commands vary. Note that some distributions may require you to build the x86_64-elf cross-compiler from source if it isn't available in their default repositories.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential bison flex libgmp3-dev libmpc-dev libmpfr-dev texinfo nasm xorriso qemu-system-x86

(Note: You will need to build the x86_64-elf cross-compiler from source or find a compatible PPA, as it is not in the default Debian/Ubuntu repositories.)

Arch Linux

Arch Linux provides the regular tools in its standard repositories and the cross-compiler via the AUR:

sudo pacman -S nasm xorriso qemu-full
yay -S x86_64-elf-gcc x86_64-elf-binutils

Fedora

sudo dnf install make gcc gcc-c++ bison flex gmp-devel mpfr-devel libmpc-devel texinfo nasm xorriso qemu

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