Quecto (q)

Quecto ($10^{-30}$): The smallest measurement prefix currently sanctioned by the International System of Units (SI).

Quecto is a text editor for those who find nano too bloated, vi too complex, and ed too verbose.

With zero dependencies and a binary size of ~344 bytes, Quecto strips away everything except the absolute essentials: input and output.

The Source

The code is written in C, but it fundamentally rejects the standard library (libc). It utilizes a custom Linker Script (build.ld) to discard all unnecessary ELF sections and forcibly merge code and data. It communicates directly with the Linux kernel via int 0x80 system calls, creating a binary that is more assembly than C.

Features

• Nano-scale Size: ~500 bytes (stripped).
• Freestanding: No libc, no startup files, runs on bare Linux kernel logic.
• Write-Only: Opens files with O_TRUNC. The past is gone; focus on the future.
• Architecture: Strictly targets Linux x86 (32-bit).

Build

Quecto requires a C compiler (GCC/Clang) and make.

Using the provided Makefile (Recommended):

make

The build process uses aggressive optimization flags and a custom linker script (build.ld) to achieve the minimal size.

• -m32 -no-pie: Traditional 32-bit memory layout.
• -nostdlib: Disables all standard libraries.
• -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables: Removes exception handling data.
• -Wl,-Tbuild.ld: Uses the custom linker script to organize memory.
• strip -R .note -R .comment: Removes binary metadata.

Usage

WARNING: Quecto overwrites the target file immediately. There is no undo. There is no confirmation.

./quecto filename.txt

1. Run the command.
2. Type your text.
3. Press Enter for new lines.
4. Press Ctrl+D (EOF) to save and exit.

Example Session

$ ./quecto notes.txt
Quecto is small.
It is dangerous.
But it works.
<Ctrl+D>
$ cat notes.txt
Quecto is small.
It is dangerous.
But it works.

Smaller than LICENSE, still an editor.