MerStal-OS

MerStal-OS is an experimental SDL3-based PDA-style shell inspired by dark post-apocalyptic terminal interfaces.

The project is currently a desktop prototype, but the long-term goal is to run it as a custom fullscreen environment on a minimal Buildroot-based Linux system for the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Status

Current prototype includes:

• SDL3 window and render loop
• modular main menu screen
• keyboard navigation
• textured UI buttons
• early support for custom fonts and assets

This is not a complete operating system yet. It is the graphical shell prototype that will later be integrated into a custom embedded Linux image.

Clone

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Meronto/MerStal-OS.git
cd MerStal-OS

If you use SSH:

git clone git@github.com:Meronto/MerStal-OS.git
cd MerStal-OS

Dependencies

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cmake gcc git libsdl3-dev libsdl3-image-dev libsdl3-ttf-dev

Arch Linux / Manjaro

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S cmake gcc git sdl3 sdl3_image sdl3_ttf

Fedora

sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install cmake gcc git SDL3-devel SDL3_image-devel SDL3_ttf-devel

If SDL3 packages are not available in your distribution repositories, SDL3, SDL3_image and SDL3_ttf can be built manually from source.

Build

Build the project from the repository root:

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

Run

Run the executable from the project root:

./build/merstal_os

Do not run it from inside the build/ directory, because assets are loaded using relative paths.

Goal

The final goal is:

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
  -> Buildroot Linux
  -> auto-start MerStal-OS
  -> fullscreen PDA-style interface

If you have any problems, write in telegram📩