diff --git a/hello_world.asm b/hello_world.asm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd4953a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hello_world.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+;
+;"hello, world" in assembly language for Linux
+;
+;to compile:
+;
+;nasm -f elf hello.asm
+;ld -s -o hello hello.o
+
+section	.text
+    global _start			;must be declared for linker (ld)
+
+_start:					;tell linker entry point
+
+	mov	edx,len	;message length
+	mov	ecx,msg	;message to write
+	mov	ebx,1	;file descriptor (stdout)
+	mov	eax,4	;system call number (sys_write)
+	int	0x80	;call kernel
+
+	mov	eax,1	;system call number (sys_exit)
+	int	0x80	;call kernel
+
+section	.data
+
+msg	db	'Hello, world!',0xa	;our dear string
+len	equ	$ - msg			;length of our dear string