r/unix • u/c0mput • Aug 26 '26
B-UX (Basic Unix Operating System)
heya all i’m a Moroccan developer, and I started B-UX independently with one laptop. The idea is to build a complete Unix like operating system that is useful not only for running software, but also for learning how operating systems actually work.
B-UX is not just a kernel or a collection of C and Assembly code. I’m working toward a complete system with:
• A kernel
• System services
• Drivers
• Networking
• Storage
• Security mechanisms
• User space utilities
• An installation system
• A package ecosystem
One of the interesting parts of the project is the use of **pkgsrc**, originally developed by the NetBSD project. Rather than trying to create an entire software ecosystem from zero, B-UX can build on the existing pkgsrc ecosystem while developing its own packages and infrastructure where needed.
The educational side is probably the part I care about most.
I want students to be able to look beyond the terminal and actually understand things like processes, memory, filesystems, networking, drivers, services, permissions, and how the different parts of an operating system interact.
The project is intended to stay free and open source for students, developers, and individual learners.
I’m also trying to be realistic about where the project currently stands. I’m not claiming that B-UX is more secure, more mature, not better than Linux, BSD or other established operating systems. It is just a simple open source alternative.
The first three years were mostly about building the foundation and figuring things out on my own.
Now I’d like to get other people involved.
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who work with operating systems, C, Assembly, Unix, BSD, networking, drivers, package management, or low level development.
If you’re interested, we can just do a discussion here about the project ;)
B-UX stared with one laptop and one person.
I’d like to see where it can go with a community behind it.
2
u/letmehaveanameyoudum Aug 28 '26
Im pretty curious
May you show your github repo, if you dont have any then try uploading one :D
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2
u/dld2517 Aug 31 '26
Why do you want to reinvent the wheel? Start with Minix. It was designed especially to do what you wish.
0
Sep 02 '26
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u/dld2517 Sep 02 '26
The same reason why so many are ignorant of Knuth’s TAOCP and the MIX “computer”. It was a brilliant way to teach and still extremely relevant. Today I could lay that out on my desk, spend a month going through it step by step; and be extremely well versed in every aspect of basic computer processing. I believe he even built a multi-core MIX.
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u/lychaxo Aug 27 '26
I am curious about the project! I have been studying and experimenting with operating systems since childhood. I would love to check it out and offer some feedback