This Month in Redox - May 2026 - Redox - Your Next(Gen) OS
26 points by sp6370
26 points by sp6370
As a layperson with no specific knowledge of OS development, Redox is one of the most exciting projects I follow. It feels wholesome and very promising.
To those who have more direct experience in this space: is it crazy to think this could compete with Linux in five or ten years, on server or desktop? Could this be a viable desktop operating system for a technically-inclined non-developer like me in the next few years? Does its momentum seem sustainable? Are they doing things that are sufficiently novel or compelling to make it worth moving to as it matures?
It's enough if it's just a fun research operating system. But I want it to be so much more.
The problem will always be drivers. That requires man power and time, or designing your kernel to be compatible with drivers from linux for example.
It seems like Redox will be able to use drivers from Linux in part due to its microkernel design. Is that correct? FreeBSD is another example of an OS that makes good use of Linux drivers whole still being its own thing. Sure, the long-term ideal would be a fully native setup but I'll take using Linux drivers for hardware support if it means other benefits.
I think it's actually the other way? BSDs can't look at driver code in Linux because GPL code would come with its license and that would override the BSD license. I know that drivers in BSD are studied thoroughly by (some) people developing Linux drivers. So there are more people working on Linux drivers AND they also get to look at both code bases. But if redox, doesn't have license issues, they can study them, but still have to adapt them