'I will release a fully open source replacement firmware for the ZX Spectrum'

Pledge “opense”

"I will release a fully open source replacement firmware for the ZX Spectrum but only if 100 people will donate £10 (or more) each to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal."

— Andrew Owen

Deadline to sign up by: 1^st July 2011
105 people signed up (5 over target)

More details
Many retro hardware enthusiasts enjoy building clones of the ZX Spectrum (8-bit computer), but using the original firmware (ROM) in these machines is illegal. An open source replacement firmware will allow enthusiasts to pursue their hobby without infringing copyright, and enable them to sell fully assembled units to other enthusiasts.

Please donate now. I will release the software when the total number of people who have donated reaches 100.

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In the UK you can donate online here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Ma...
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
I have registered the project with SourceForge and uploaded the ZX81 and SAM Coupe source code, plus the OpenSE BASIC definitions file.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/sebasic/

I have finished writing the code and it is now undergoing beta testing.
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
I've written the quick reference guide.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sebasic/...

Now we just need the remaining signatures and I can release the binary and source.
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
Beta testing is complete and the code is ready for release. However, I'm moving the source over to GNU binutils for easy compilation on multiple platforms.
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
Successfully moved the code over to GNIU binutils with a little help from Chris Smith in the form of a Makefile and a link script. Have uploaded everything except the main source now.
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
I have made a minor modification to the code so that the palette file is copied from the ROM to the palette buffer after the attributes. The ERASE command now resets the contents of the palette registers with the data held in the buffer. This is handy when dealing with ULAplus format screens (which contain 6144 bitmap bytes, followed by 768 attribute bytes, followed by 64 palette bytes).
Andrew Owen, 2 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
Thanks to everyone who donated. The source and binary are now available. There will be an official release when the palette.data file is finalized, but that could be some time off. No code changes though ... just don't write any software that depends on the current palette.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sebasic/...
Andrew Owen, 23 months ago. Abusive? Report it!