Instant-on tiny ESP32 PC with an editor, compiler, and apps installer
This started as a "cyberdeck" style crafts project using ESP32-S3, for some retro coding. Then I got carried away and wrote a self-hosted mini C compiler for it. Now I published the whole system that runs it. The core reusable parts are also packaged in Espressif Components Registry as "BreezyBox". So far, this platform lives up to my dreams: instant on, snappy when optimized, flexible with resource allocation. I upgraded to a bigger screeen: Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-7B, 7", 1024x600. It takes some effort to drive it with good speed on the S3, but this sort of challenge is exactly why I…
What it does
In the maker’s words, at launch
This started as a "cyberdeck" style crafts project using ESP32-S3, for some retro coding. Then I got carried away and wrote a self-hosted mini C compiler for it. Now I published the whole system that runs it. The core reusable parts are also packaged in Espressif Components Registry as "BreezyBox". So far, this platform lives up to my dreams: instant on, snappy when optimized, flexible with resource allocation. I upgraded to a bigger screeen: Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-7B, 7", 1024x600. It takes some effort to drive it with good speed on the S3, but this sort of challenge is exactly why I started this project, so I am having fun. It captures a lot of the old school DOS era coding experience. I created a custom fast text mode driver, plan to add VGA-like graphics next. ANSI text demos run smooth, as you can see in the demo video featured in the Readme. App installs also work smoothly. The first time it installed 6 apps from my git repo with one command, felt like, "OMG, I got homebrew to run on a toaster!" And best of all, it can install from any repo, no approvals or waiting, you just publish a compatible ELF file in your release. It is something like Raspberry Pi, but without the overhead of a full server-grade OS. Repo: [https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezydemo/](https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezydemo/) If you like small elegant systems that punch above their weight, consider trying this sort of setup! It is surprisingly capable.
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