<
operating system> (
MinT is not TOS - a
recursive acronym) A
freeware,
open source operating system for the
Atari ST
range of computers.
MiNT was originally based on a
port of
BSD to
Atari ST computers by Eric R. Smith.
MiNT gave the
Atari access to BSD's many network applications. A short
(1992-94) romance between
MiNT and
Atari Corp., who decided
to convert the system to the
MultiTOS kernel, produced a
unique TOS/Unix hybrid, which provides simultaneous access to
both
GEM and BSD application libraries.
Since
MiNT is MultiTOS's kernel, it has kept all the features
described above and, if an
AES replacement is installed, it
can show you a new face of MultiTOS. Unlike MultiTOS however,
MiNT is based on a different
file system, that is faster and
more flexible than TOS's. Furthermore, thanks to the network
support,
MiNT allows an Atari to be an
Internet server
that can still run GEM and TOS applications! This has won
MiNT many devotees ("MiNTquisitors"), making it the main
competitor for
ASH's
MagiC.
Unlike
Linux,
MiNT can run on a
Motorola 68000 with no
FPU. It needs at least 4 MB of RAM, more to run multiuser
or to run GEM applications at the same time.
http://orient.uw.edu.pl/MiNTconradus/docs/mint.html.
(1999-07-20)