Read the latest Linux poem on bare metal! That's right, no OS required. :) http://linux-poetry.com/17/
The poem is a triolet about the "magic number" 0xAA55: the byte signature used to denote a bootable sector on x86 systems. The signature prompts BIOS to execute the preceding bytes in the sector as a program. This is the way that bootloaders, like GRUB, are launched.
The bootloader in this repository is just a modified "hello world" -- it prints the text of the poem. An iso is included so you can boot a bare metal system from it if you're brave! I'd recommend just using qemu or virtualbox otherwise.
Notes:
- If you'd like to create your own bootloader check out: Writing a Simple Operating System from Scratch by Nick Blundell
Usage:
Simply use the included iso image as you would a live disk or install qemu and run make qemu to run on an emulated cpu
Development:
Edit linux-poem-17.asm and run make then make iso to regenerate linux-poem-17.iso