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Redox OS 0.9.0

Redox is a Unix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, with a focus on security, reliability and safety. Offering source compatibility and a full set of programs, Redox is intended to be a complete alternative to Linux and BSD, in the cloud and on the desktop.

Stability and Security

Microkernel design
Drivers run in userspace
OS Services provided via Schemes
Rust-written kernel and drivers
Inspired by Plan 9, Minix, seL4, BSD and Linux
Much smaller attack of surface compared to Linux
See our security features

Performance

Fast I/O performance
Fast system boot
Desktop variant using less than 512 MB of RAM
The minimal image occupies less than 50 MB
Easy customization to save space, using a TOML-format configuration file

Drivers and Hardware Support

Intel/AMD, ARM and RISC-V CPU support
Good virtualization support
Common hardware support
Support for PS/2 and USB keyboards, mouse and touchpads
ZFS-Inspired file system
Boot from NVMe, SATA, IDE, and USB
Boot with full disk encryption
See list of supported drivers

Rust Ecosystem

Tier 2 and 3 of Rust Platform Support
Support for Rust Standard Library
GUI tools supported via COSMIC programs
Linux system tools supported via uutils
Many crates support Redox
See list of side-projects

UNIX Compatibility

Source compatibility with Linux/BSD programs
Integration with forked GCC Compiler
Many Linux programs ported
Partial POSIX compatibility
Custom C Standard Library is written in Rust
POSIX Signals/Threads and Unix Domain Sockets support
See feature comparison between Unix-like systems

GUI Compatibility

Rust-written windowing system and window manager
Support for X11, GTK3, Iced, Slint, egui, winit, softbuffer, SDL2, SDL1 and Mesa3D OSMesa
Support for OpenGL CPU emulation via Mesa3D LLVMPipe
Working media playback with ffplay and SDL Player
Working basic web browser with NetSurf
Many games and demos are ported

Open Source and Community

Active Community since 2015
Self-hosted GitLab server
Hosting the Redox Summer Of Code program annually since 2018
Our work is predominately MIT Licensed
Backed via Donorbox, Patreon, Bitcoin, Ethereum, merch, and many more
Many ways to support and contribute
Chat with us on Matrix!

Active Sponsors

We are thankful for these organizations supporting our work

NGI Zero Commons Fund on Unix-style Signals, Capability-based security and io_uring-like IO

and our patrons

Lots of exciting roadmap ahead

Contributions to new ideas are always open!

Get the bleeding edge

Read the Building Redox, Build System Guide, General FAQ, Developer FAQ and join us on Matrix!