# akkartik/mu

Soul of a tiny new machine. More thorough tests → More comprehensible and rewrite-friendly software → More resilient society.

Repository: https://github.com/akkartik/mu
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/akkartik-mu
Homepage: http://akkartik.name/akkartik-convivial-20200607.pdf
Language: Assembly
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: programming-literacy, white-box-testing, linux, x86, unit-tested, machine-code
Last push: 2026-04-02T02:16:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 66/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 75, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4301, "days_push": 154, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1426, forks 48 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:41.688333+00:00)

## What it is
Mu is a minimal-dependency hobbyist computing stack built from the 32-bit x86 instruction set up, aiming for a human-scale computer whose every design decision is comprehensible to one person. It emphasizes thorough, well-named automated tests and memory-safe, low-translation-layer code as a vehicle for programming literacy.

## Use cases
- learn how a computer works from machine code up
- study a fully test-covered operating system codebase
- run a tiny bootable OS like Game of Life in QEMU
- experiment with minimal-dependency systems programming
- teach bottom-up computer literacy
- explore white-box testing practices in systems software

## When to choose
- you want to read and understand every layer of a computing stack
- you value comprehensibility and test coverage over performance or compatibility
- you're teaching or learning systems fundamentals on x86 with QEMU

## When to avoid
- you need networking, modern hardware support, or 64-bit
- you want to build production services or large-scale software
- you need a stable, actively developed platform with broad ecosystem support

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: maintenance
- function: programming-language, compiler, interpreter, testing
- domain: programming-languages, education, operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: hobby-os, bare-metal, x86-32-bit, white-box-testing, minimal-dependencies, programming-literacy, bootable, qemu, assembly, educational, linux

## Member repositories
- akkartik/mu (main) score 66

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:41.688333+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:37:25.674984+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/akkartik/mu (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:41.688333+00:00, sha 44642d6faec1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.