MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a
free software alternative
operating system kernel for the
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to
TOS and
MagiC
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
. Together with the free system components fVDI
device driver
In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and ot ...
s,
XaAES graphical user interface widgets, and TeraDesk
file manager, MiNT provides a free
TOS compatible replacement OS that can
multitask.
History
Work on MiNT began in 1989, as the developer Eric Smith was trying to port the
GNU library and related utilities on the Atari ST TOS. It turned out quickly, that it was much easier to add a
Unix-like layer to the TOS, than to patch all of the GNU software, and MiNT began as a TOS extension to help in porting.
MiNT was originally released by Eric Smith as "MiNT is Not TOS" (a
recursive acronym in the style of "GNU's Not Unix") in May 1990. The new Kernel got traction, with people contributing a port of the
MINIX Filesystem and a port to the
Atari TT.
At the same time Atari was looking to enhance the TOS with multitasking abilities, they found that MiNT could fulfill the job, and hired Eric Smith. MiNT was adopted as an official alternative kernel with the release of the
Atari Falcon, slightly altering the MiNT acronym into "MiNT is Now TOS". Atari bundled MiNT with a multitasking version of the
Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) under the name ''MultiTOS'' as a
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...
based installer.
After Atari left the computer market, MiNT development continued under the name ''FreeMiNT'', and is now maintained by a team of volunteers. FreeMiNT development follows a classic open-source approach, with the source code hosted on a publicly browsabl
FreeMiNT Git repository on GitHub and development discussed in a public mailing list., which is maintained on SourceForge, after an earlier (2014) move from AtariForge, where it was maintained for almost 20 years.
Hardware requirements
A minimal install of MiNT will run on an Atari ST with its stock 8 MHz
68000 CPU, with 4 MB RAM and a hard drive. It is highly recommended that an Atari computer with a 16 MHz
68030 CPU and 8 MB of RAM be used.
MiNT can also run inside the emulators
Hatari an
STEem and with networking on the
68040
The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola nami ...
virtual machin
Aranym
MiNT software ecosystem
FreeMiNT provides only a kernel, so several distributions support MiNT, like VanillaMint, EasyMint, STMint and BeeKey/BeePi.
Although FreeMiNT can use the graphical user interface of the TOS (the
Graphics Environment Manager GEM and the
Application Environment Services or AES), it is better served with an enhanced AES which can use its
multi-tasking abilities.
The default one is currently
XaAES, which is developed as a FreeMiNT kernel module. The older N.AES also works, however the modern alternative i
MyAESre
Minimal multitask for Hatari (MyAES & 68000)/ref>
See also
*
XaAES
*
EmuTOS
EmuTOS is a replacement for TOS (the operating system of the Atari ST and its successors), released as free software. It is mainly intended to be used with Atari emulators and clones, such as Hatari or FireBee. EmuTOS provides support for more ...
*
SpareMiNT {{Short description, Software distribution based on FreeMiNT
SpareMiNT is a software distribution based on ''FreeMiNT'', which consists of a MiNT-like operating system (OS) and kernel plus GEM compatible ''AES'' (Application Environment Services). ...
*
Hatari (emulator)
References
External links
FreeMiNT Project website* , MyAeS
Unofficial XaAES website MiNT is Now TOS—an interview with Mr Eric R. Smith, the creator of MiNTFreeMiNT mailing listFreeMiNT wiki XaAES sourceFreeMiNT support forum
{{Operating systems
Atari ST software
Disk operating systems
Free software operating systems
Atari operating systems