Setup Your Forge

“A craftsman is only as good as his tools. A master sharpens them daily.”

You will not drag and drop. You will not click “Next”. You will command.

1. The Operating System

You need a system that respects you.

Recommended: Linux (Arch, Debian, Fedora) or OpenBSD.
Acceptable: macOS (It’s UNIX, barely).
Tolerated: Windows (WSL2 only).

2. The Terminal

Open your terminal. This is your home now. In Janus, the terminal is not a scary black box. It is the cockpit.

3. The Editor

We do not use IDEs that consume 4GB of RAM to blink a cursor. We use editors that are extensions of our thought.

Option A: Neovim (The Modern Master)

# Install (Arch Linux example)
sudo pacman -S neovim

# Run
nvim

Neovim is modal. You are not always typing text. You are navigating logic.

i — Insert Mode (Write code)
Esc — Normal Mode (Command code)
:w — Save
:q — Quit

Option B: VS Code (The Compromise)

If you must. But install the Vim bindings.

4. Git: The Time Machine

You will make mistakes. Git lets you erase them.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

5. Install Janus

# Clone the repository
git clone https://git.sovereign-society.org/janus/janus-lang.git
cd janus-lang

# Build the compiler (requires Zig 0.16.x)
zig build

# Verify (v2026.3.8)
./zig-out/bin/janus --version

You are now armed.

Next Steps

[Hello Sovereignty]/learn/hello-sovereignty/ — Write your first program
[Core Fundamentals]/learn/fundamentals/ — Types, control flow, functions