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Show HN: Anos โ€“ a hand-written ~100KiB microkernel for x86-64 and RISC-V

read original get Minimalist Microkernel Kit โ†’ more articles
Why This Matters

Anos is a lightweight, microkernel-based operating system designed for x86-64 and RISC-V hardware, supporting preemptive multitasking and user-space device drivers. Its minimalistic design and open-source nature make it a valuable platform for experimentation and education in OS development, highlighting innovative kernel architecture and security models. This project underscores ongoing efforts to create more modular, secure, and efficient operating systems for modern hardware.

Key Takeaways

anos - An Operating System ๐Ÿ’พ

Note This is not yet an operating system, but definitely has reached "toy kernel" status, since it now supports user mode preemptive multitasking on up to 16 CPUs, provides enough kernel support to run functioning device drivers in userspace, and runs on real hardware ๐Ÿฅณ.

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High-level overview

Anos is a modern, opinionated, non-POSIX operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like GNU-Linuxยฎ) for x86_64 PCs and RISC-V machines.

Anos currently comprises the STAGE3 microkernel, SYSTEM user-mode supervisor, and a base set of servers implementing the base of the operating system. There is a (WIP) toolchain for Anos based on Binutils, GCC ( 16-experimental ) and Newlib (with a custom libgloss ).

Anos is free software licensed under the GPLv2, with similar linkage exceptions as other major free operating systems.

TL;DR / Headline features

Non-zealous microkernel ( "STAGE3" ) with scheduling, memory management, and IPC primitives

) with scheduling, memory management, and IPC primitives Strict system-wide capability-based security model

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