February 6, 2026
Boots before your coffee
Show HN: Look Ma, No Linux: Shell, App Installer, Vi, Cc on ESP32-S3 / BreezyBox
Tiny chip becomes a ’90s-style PC — fans cheer, skeptics poke holes
TLDR: BreezyBox turns an ESP32-S3 into a tiny, instant-on “PC” with a shell, editor, and compiler—no Linux required. Commenters split between cheering the minimalist speed (great for kids!) and probing the limits, debating memory hurdles, possible ports to RP2350, and how far microcontrollers can be pushed.
The internet is buzzing over BreezyBox, a DIY mini shell that turns the low-cost ESP32-S3 microcontroller into a tiny, instant‑on “PC” with its own command line, text editor, C compiler, and app installer. No full Linux here — it runs on FreeRTOS — which gives it retro DOS vibes and zero‑fuss boot times. The dev calls it a “userland layer,” not an OS, and it’s MIT‑licensed for anyone to tinker with, especially on cheap LCD dev boards.
The comments are the show. One camp is all‑in on the instant‑on minimalism, with vegadw swooning, “absolutely give this to a kid as a first computer.” Another camp wants answers: galangalalgol asks if the non‑flat memory model (translation: memory’s organized in tricky ways) makes building a general OS harder, name‑dropping the Amiga for cred. Port‑beggars arrive right on cue: mrlonglong wants this on Raspberry Pi’s new RP2350 chip, while apitman wonders how far MCUs (tiny single‑chip computers) can really go — hinting at a friendly arms race in the making. Across the thread, the “Look Ma, no Linux” angle sparks a playful split: minimalists celebrating the freedom from bloat vs. pragmatists warning about memory limits, alignment quirks, and how much you can actually run. It’s nostalgia, maker energy, and a side of spicy skepticism — exactly the kind of garage‑lab drama the internet loves.
Key Points
- •BreezyBox is a mini-shell ESP-IDF component that turns an ESP32-S3 into an instant-on, PC-like environment with shell, editor, compiler, and app installer.
- •It runs as a userland on FreeRTOS, leveraging ESP-IDF components such as an elf_loader for dynamic ELF app loading.
- •The demo targets a Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-7B board, but the component can be adapted to other displays/boards.
- •Getting started involves forking/cloning the repo; LVGL text labels are recommended for LCD stdout, or use a headless USB console via IDF Monitor in VSCode or Tabby.
- •The project is MIT-licensed and seeks contributions, especially more ELF apps and full firmware examples, noting constraints like tight memory and PSRAM alignment.