Redox (operating system)

Operating system written in Rust

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Operating system

Redox

Redox running Ion shell in Orbital windowing system

Developer| Jeremy Soller,
Redox Developers[1]
Written in| Rust, assembly
OS family| Unix-like
Working state| Current
Source model| Free software
Initial release| 20 April 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-20)
Latest preview| 0.8.0 / 24 November 2022; 18 months ago (2022-11-24)
Repository|

* gitlab.redox-os.org/redox-os/redox

Marketing target| Desktop, workstation, server
Available in| English
Package manager| pkgutils
Platforms| x86-64; ARM64 in development[2]
Kernel type| Microkernel
Userland| Custom
Influenced by| POSIX[3]
Default
user interface| Command-line, Orbital
License| MIT
Official website| www.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:

* NetSurf – a lightweight web browser which uses its own layout engine
* Calculator – a software calculator which provides functions similar to the Windows Calculator program
* Editor – simple text editor, similar to Microsoft Notepad
* File Browser – a file manager that displays icons, names, sizes, and details for files; uses the launcher command to open files when they are clicked
* Image Viewer – Image viewer for simple file types
* Pixelcannon – 3D renderer, can be used to benchmark the Orbital desktop
* Orbterm – ANSI type terminal emulator

## 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]

* Official website
* Official GitLab instance
* Redox on GitHub
* Redox at Open Hub

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