The Manual

You are holding the manual for a library that is also an operating system. This is not a metaphor. When you boot ΦΜΛ, you are standing in an entrance hall. The shelves are real directories. The documents are real files. The journal is a real log.

This manual is written for three readers simultaneously. If you are exploring and want to know what to do next, you'll find that here. If you are thinking about what this system means, you'll find that here too. And if you are building and want to know how the machinery works, it's all here — every command, every register, every mechanism.

You do not need to read this manual in order. You do not need to read it at all. The library is patient and will teach you by letting you wander. But if you want the map before you walk, this is it.

Five words

Everything begins with five words:

• browse — look at what's around you
• walk — move to another room
• read — read a document
• inscribe — write a new document
• inspect — look deeper at how something works

That's it. You can stop reading now and go explore.