__________________________         _____               
            ___  __ )__(_)_  /__  ___/__      ____(_)______________
            __  __  |_  /_  __/____ \__ | /| / /_  /__  ___/_  ___/
            _  /_/ /_  / / /_ ____/ /__ |/ |/ /_  / _(__  )_(__  ) 
            /_____/ /_/  \__/ /____/ ____/|__/ /_/  /____/ /____/
                                 
                        the multi-platform offline archiver for removable drives.

a lightweight, cross-platform, open source C++/Dear ImGui utility to curate, download, and provision massive offline archives onto removable media, easily creating removable, digital "swiss army knives" that can be used anywhere, on any (desktop) computer.

this tool allows users to select from a massive ledger of distinct historical, scientific and technical archives, and have them automatically be downloaded onto any removable storage device.

---

how it works

    source (offline ZIM files)
           |   (wikipedia, stackoverflow, etc.)
           V
+----------+-------------------------------------+
|        [ ] BitSwiss core - multi-threaded sync |
|                                                |
|   +--> [reader thread 1] ----+                 |
|   |    (parser 1)            |    concurrent   |
|   +--> [reader thread 2] ----+    processing   |
|   |    (parser 2)            |                 |
|   +--> [reader thread N] ----+                 |
|        (parser N)            |                 |
+------------------------------+-----------------+
           |                   |
           | [optimized data]  | [native runtimes]
           V                   V
+----------+--------+   +------+---------+
|  offline archive  | + |   native apps  |
| (.zim + resources)|   | (linux/win/mac)|
+----------+--------+   +------+---------+
           |                   |
           +---------+---------+
                     |
                     V
             target (portable media)
       +---------------------------------+
       |         [===usb drive===]       |
       |    BitSwiss_archive             |
       |  ├── data (.zim archives)       |
       |  ├── BitSwiss-Linux             |
       |  ├── BitSwiss.exe (windows)     |
       |  └── BitSwiss.app (macOS)       |
       +---------------------------------+

BitSwiss reads raw, highly compressed ZIM files (like full offline dumps of wikipedia) and uses multi-threaded parsing engines to process the data concurrently. it then packages the archives alongside native, standalone executables (available for linux, windows, and macOS) directly onto your removable storage, giving you a massive offline knowledge base that runs on any computer.

---

usage

• run the app: download the binary from the releases page. pay attention, there might be specific directions for certain releases or operating systems.
• select device: if it doesn't automatically detect a device, or you have multiple, choose the device you want. if it is not showing up, make sure that it is mounted and editable.
• select packages: choose what packages you want to download, wether thats preconfigured ones or manual selection. it is also reccomended to get a reader too!
• hit the button: now just hit the big button at the bottom and let her rip! if you messed up and need to cancel, don't worry, just hit the same button again.

---

system architecture

the application decouples data definitions from user configuration management to guarantee mathematically sound allocation and zero-copy memory overhead

• master data list: explicitly registers a large library of global assets once. features live asynchronous metadata queries over http to determine exact byte counts on startup without locking the render frame loop.
• preconfigured tiers: employs preconfigured data arrays mapping directly to the master data list to provide instant presets tailored for different storage sizes, areas of focus, and more.
• hardware mapping engine: intercepts system volume layers to evaluate target file blocks against actual target parameters, automatically enforcing overload guards before writing data.

---

contents and datasets

the program currently coordinates a comprehensive (over 600gb) knowledge and information ledger across multiple domains:

the data includes but is not limited to:

• the Wikipedia spectrum: features three distinct fully searchable file sizes (full with pictures, text only, headers and introductions only) containing every Wikipedia entry.
• the stackexchange matrix: integrates the entirety of Stack Overflow alongside niche engineering, technology, science, math, literature, art, and more sister forums.
• massive public domain literature packages: houses the entirety of Project Gutenberg which includes many texts from the Library of Congress, and thousands of other public domain ebooks. users can choose from the entire collection or from specific collections.
• practical hardware and repair: features the entire comprehensive iFixit repair database that can be used to repair and understand thousands of different devices.
• technical documentation: included is the whole devdocs archive, featuring fully detailed archives for many scripting languages, libraries, workflows, and more.
• textboooks and educational materials: included in the list of available packages is the entire libretext archive, with many categories and thousands of different books and texts.
• medical information libraries: houses the entire medlineplus library (made by the NIH), which contains a massive amount of health and first aid information.
• all of wiktionary: a dictionary containing over 1,000,000 entries in almost every language known to man
• educational courses: this list has more than just educational texts, with khanacademy, freecodecamp, and crashcourse, it also has fully working step by step courses.
• NASA's astronomy picture of the day view all of NASA's astronomy pictures of the day from 1995 to the present, with expert-written explanations!

there are also multiple preconfigured datasets including:

• 16gb tailored set: includes only the most necessary information including wikipedia headers, can fit on a 16gb drive.
• 32gb tailored set: includes slightly more information, without too much bloat to fit on your average thumb drive
• 64gb tailored set: includes all of wikipedia and wiktionary (without pictures), all of iFixit, freecodecamp, multiple devdocs, and more. fits on a 64gb drive.
• 128gb tailored set: includes all of wikipedia and wiktionary (without pictures), iFixit, medlineplus, every libretexts collection, medlineplus, crashcourse, nasa apod, and a handful of stackexchange archives.
• CHUNGUS data set: includes every single package. very large (over 600gb!!!).
• coding and software engineering set: contains almost everything you need to learn to code and lookup documentation fully offline
• computer science and graphics set: nearly every single devdoc package and other computer science package
• scholarly data set: for the people who want to get really smart, containing all of the gutenberg library, every libretexts sector, crashcourse, wikipedia, it truly feels like you could get multiple doctorates from this one.
• the stargazer data set: contains all things space, along with wikipedia. for if you really like stars (or work at NASA)

---

technical stack & dependencies

the project runs natively on cross-platform core engines:

• gui frontend: uses Dear ImGui (docking branch) bound to an OpenGL3/GLFW3 backend graphics pipeline
• network transport: native 'libcurl' utilizing multi-threaded worker pools ('std::thread') to issue concurrent 'HTTP HEAD' metadata requests
• cross-platform compilation: fully compatible with Linux, modern Windows 10/11, and macOS environments.

system requirements:

to build cleanly, ensure the native developer headers are present on your machine:

• cmake
• gcc
• glfw-devel
• mesa-libgl-devel
• libcurl-devel

---

building and running

1. create and enter an isolated build folder:

mkdir build && cd build

2. generate build cache using CMake

cmake ..

3. compile the target binary executable

cmake --build .

4. launch the program

./bitswiss

---

gallery

windows 95 (dark):

windows 95 (classic):

terminal green:

terminal purple:

modern dark:

---

ai usage disclosure

no generative ai or LLMs were used to write or debug any code, headers, or documentation.

---

coded in C++ using JetBrains CLion

compiled using CMake

GNU general public license

created for Hack Club Stardance 2026 by SwedishSplidney