lcom-ng v0.2.0

Run LCOM labs and C projects without a Minix VM. This first student release includes the desktop runtime, native SDK, Minix/LCF compatibility SDK, lab starters, checks and examples.

Download and install

Choose the archive for your operating system and processor below. Keep the whole extracted folder and add its bin/ directory to PATH.

Installation guide · Documentation

Linux archives target Ubuntu 24.04 or compatible distributions with glibc 2.39+. Windows uses the updated MSYS2 MSYS terminal. macOS archives are ad-hoc signed and not notarized; each archive records its minimum macOS version in bundle.json.

A C compiler and Python 3.9+ are needed to build existing projects. Native workspaces also use make. SDL and the desktop dependency libraries are included. On Windows, use --debug for debug symbols; MSYS GCC does not provide AddressSanitizer.

Existing Minix project or lab

From the directory containing your original Makefile:

lcom-ng compat build .
lcom-ng run -- .lcom-ng/proj

Use the executable path printed by the builder, named after PROG. Original sources, imports and Makefiles stay unchanged. Labs take their usual callback arguments, for example timer_test_int 2 after the lab binary.

Native workspace

lcom-ng setup student
cd student
make
lcom-ng run -- build/student_project
lcom-ng test rtc

Fresh TODO labs fail checks until implemented. The native SDK is the route for new code.

Compatibility evidence and limits are documented in the compatibility guide. This is a course-device runtime, not an emulation of the Minix operating system. CI startup checks use dummy SDL drivers; they do not establish physical input or display quality on every machine.

Check downloads against SHA256SUMS or the matching .sha256 file.

Release source: fe0315b0a7d25c8c7fa1965583c9e0b608927fb4. All five platform builds, runtime tests and relocated package checks passed. Downloaded release checksums were verified, and the Mac ARM archive also passed the student flow locally with Apple tools.