Redox (operating system)

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Redox
Redox running Ion shell in Orbital windowing system
DeveloperJeremy Soller,
Redox Developers[1]
Written inRust, assembly
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelFree software
Initial release20 April 2015; 8 years ago (2015-04-20)
Latest preview0.8.0 / 24 November 2022; 15 months ago (2022-11-24)
Repository
Marketing targetDesktop, workstation, server
Available inEnglish
Package managerpkgutils
Platformsx86-64; ARM64 in development[2]
Kernel typeMicrokernel
UserlandCustom
Influenced byPOSIX[3]
Default
user interface
Command-line, Orbital
LicenseMIT
Official websitewww.redox-os.org

Redox is a Unix-like microkernel operating system written in the programming language Rust, which has a focus on safety, stability, and performance.[4][5][6] Redox aims to be secure, usable, and free. Redox is inspired by prior kernels and operating systems, such as SeL4, MINIX, Plan 9, and BSD. It is free and open-source software distributed under an MIT License.

Redox gets its name from the reduction-oxidation reactions in chemistry; one redox reaction is the corrosion of iron, also called rust.

Design[edit]

The Redox operating system is designed to be secure.[4] This is reflected in two design decisions:

  1. Using the programming language Rust for implementation
  2. Using a microkernel design, similar to MINIX

Components[edit]

Redox provides packages (memory allocator, file system, display manager, core utilities, etc.) that together make up a functional operating system. Redox relies on an ecosystem of software written in Rust by members of the project.

  • Redox kernel – derives from the concept of microkernels, with inspiration from MINIX
  • Ralloc – memory allocator
  • TFS file system – inspired by the ZFS file system
  • Ion shell – the underlying library for shells and command execution in Redox, and the default shell
  • pkgutils – package manager
  • Orbital windowing system – display and window manager, sets up the orbital: scheme, manages the display, and handles requests for window creation, redraws, and event polling
  • relibc – C standard library

Command-line applications[edit]

Redox supports command-line interface (CLI) programs, including:

  • Sodium – vi-like editor that provides syntax highlighting

Graphical applications[edit]

Redox supports graphical user interface (GUI) programs, including:

History[edit]

Redox was created by Jeremy Soller and was first published on 20 April 2015 on GitHub.[7] As of July 2021, the Redox repository had a total of 79 contributors.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Redox Contributors". GitLab. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Porting Redox to ARM (AArch64)". 6 August 2018.
  3. ^ "What is Redox?". Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Redox - Your Next(Gen) OS - Redox - Your Next(Gen) OS". www.redox-os.org.
  5. ^ Weisinger, Dick (4 May 2016). "Operating Systems: Rust Redox – An Next-Generation Attempt to Plug Linux OS Gaps". Formtek. Formtek, Inc. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  6. ^ . Yegulalp, Serdar (21 March 2016). "Rust's Redox OS could show Linux a few new tricks". InfoWorld. San Francisco: IDG Communications, Inc. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ^ Soller, Jeremy (jackpot51) (20 April 2015). "Initial commit of Rustboot-based OS". GitHub. GitHub, Inc. Retrieved 17 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Redox Repository". GitHub. Retrieved 2016-03-26.

External links[edit]