Thimble should work on Linux or OS X, though I've only tested it on OS X.

• Bash
• A C compiler
• Make
• Ruby (any version should do)

$ bash mktoolchain.x86_64.bash   # Downloads and builds compiler, assembler and emulator. Only run this once.

$ source env.x86_64.bash
(thimble x86_64) $ make qemu

# When you're done working on thimble, `deactivate` will restore your path.
# It's kind of like a python virtual env:
(thimble x86_64) $ deactivate
$

Thimble takes a lot of inspiration (including coding conventions and function naming) and some source code from xv6. As Thimble has grown, it has become more distinct from xv6, but there are a lot of similar design decisions that should feel familiar to anyone who knows the xv6 codebase.

For the xv6 license, see ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thimble is copyright 2015-2019 David Albert and is available under the terms of the GNU GPLv3 or later. See COPYING for more info.