redox-os/redox

Redox is a full-featured open-source operating system written in Rust, a programming language designed with a strong emphasis on safety and performance. This GitHub repository is specifically the build system for Redox, meaning it contains the tooling used to compile and assemble the OS rather than the OS kernel code itself (the kernel and other components live in separate repositories on GitLab). Redox uses a microkernel architecture, a design where the operating system's core is kept as small as possible and most services (drivers, file systems, etc.) run as separate user-space processes rather than inside the kernel. This approach is generally more secure and easier to maintain than a traditional monolithic kernel, though historically harder to achieve good performance with. Redox draws inspiration from operating systems like seL4, MINIX, Plan 9, and Linux. It is a complete operating system, not just a kernel, providing its own file system (RedoxFS), a display server and window manager (Orbital), a shell (Ion), a C standard library written in Rust (relibc), a package manager, and a desktop environment using COSMIC apps. It aims for source-code compatibility with many Rust, Linux, and BSD programs, meaning programs written for those systems can potentially be ported. You can run Redox in a virtual machine (a simulated computer inside your existing computer) or install it on real hardware. It is licensed under the MIT license and is developed by an active open-source community.