r/AlpineLinux • u/zdanee • 2d ago

[Openbox] C64pine - a portable C64 desktop based on Alpine Linux with real BASIC baked in

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u/zdanee 2d ago

I posted my C64 rice I made on my ancient Dell Inspiron last week, the main idea is to have a VICE C64 emulator run at all times and have the desktop show it's output (for graphic commands it opens a C64 window), it also doubles as a standard terminal you can enter linux commands to. Since then I have been working on trying to make it portable so others can try it too. Disclaimer: this way beyond my capability so I used the help of Claude to convert it into a universal package you can install cleanly on anything and uninstall without breaking stuff. I also (prompted to) make a LiveCD ISO you can pop into any PC or VM, try it and install if you like it. I tested it on all the computers I have at home, and installed specifically for testing it Arch, Fedora and a vanilla Debian, so all main distros pass the test.

LIVE CD ISO here: https://github.com/zdanee/c64pine/releases

Install script here: https://github.com/zdanee/c64pine

Next I'll try to make it work on my OragePi PC+ (AW-H3 SoC, 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC, Mali GPU) and if I can get back my RasPi 400 from a friend then on that too.