alt Hacker NewsShow HN: Look Ma, No Linux: Shell, App Installer, Vi, Cc on ESP32-S3 / BreezyBox
Example repo: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezydemo
The underlying ESP-IDF component: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezybox
It is something like Raspberry Pi, but without the overhead of a full server-grade OS.
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.
Coverage:
Hackaday: https://hackaday.com/2026/02/06/breezybox-a-busybox-like-she...
Hackster.io: https://www.hackster.io/news/valentyn-danylchuk-s-breezybox-...
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/esp32/comments/1qq503c/i_made_an_in...
Comments
Very cool project. Congrats. I will be trying this out.
Two other project I saw that are somewhat related for those interested:
1. reddit community (r/xteinkereader) building an OS like ebook reader app for a small chinese ereader based on esp32-s3
2. Linux port for the esp32-s3. Interestingly, the S3 has an MMU but I don't think it was used in this project.
https://github.com/ESP32DE/Boot-Linux-ESP32S3-Playground?tab...
Well, I know what I'm doing next weekend.. I was already gonna pick up an esp32-s3 for another project, now I need two...
Bit of a noob question: is this limited to the S3 or can I try running it on a C3 too?
Being instant-on is so, so cool. I really like seeing projects like this and Adafruit's Fruit Jam as they really show "Yeah, by having all this junk in the way, we do lose some things"
Absolutely would give something like this to a kid as a first computer.
Very cool! We need to get this on M5Stack Cardputer ASAP
Doesn't the lack of a flat memory model make a genral os difficult? The amiga1000 had far less processing power and about the same memory, with no mmu, but that memory model was flat. Did you have to do weird things to work around it?
Hey you're the xcc700 guy! Very cool stuff. I've been interested lately in using MCUs for general purpose compute. I wonder how far you could push it.
Would it be possible to port it to run on the rp2350?
This is my introduction to Breezybox and THAT I am really excited about. I hate that for some reason I have to care about Wifi configuration and updates, I just want to write my application. I never understood why we don’t have simple microcontroller OSes that care about that stuff for us.
This looks like a great basis (or maybe even all that’s needed) for one.
Does it have a good setup flow for headless deployment (e.g. supply Wifi config while flashing, remote shell access/web UI for deploying apps)?
Cool project!
The value for money is crazy on these boards, in my opinion. I'm planning on using these as a cheap replacement to a KVM. Flashing esp bus pirate (https://github.com/geo-tp/ESP32-Bus-Pirate) and leaving it connected to whatever device I want to control ( remotely in my case), is quite handy. The power draw is negligible so I just leave it always on connected to my wifi.