Not completely different, because the output of the compiler is itself ASCII. So it compiles any C program into an ASCII exe
These are two different projects with different design goals and challenges. Tom's built a compiler around it, I created a bootloader that consists of only MUL and XOR.
I don't understand why I feel that I have to defend myself, I thought hackers love these kind of projects, yet it seems I got cancelled.
A true innovation would be to combine both projects. One that inputs source code plus an image and outputs ASCII art that runs like a program.
Holy hyperbole captain. Apparently not being heaped in praise and getting the usual amount of hyper cynical HN criticism is "being cancelled" now.