nulVOS

nulVOS is an open-source operating system designed for embedded and research environments. It aims for a minimal footprint, strong isolation, and deterministic behavior. The system uses a microkernel architecture with most services running in user space and drivers isolated from core kernel code.

Origin and release: nulVOS originated as a research project by the Null Foundation and collaborating universities in the early 2010s. The project released its first public version in 2016 and has since evolved through a series of point releases and alpha builds.

Platform and licensing: nulVOS targets multiple architectures, including x86_64 and ARM, and aims for portability to embedded platforms. The reference implementation is distributed under the MIT license, with contributions from an international developer community.

Architecture and features: The kernel is microkernel-based, providing core services such as interprocess communication, memory management, and basic scheduling in the kernel, while file systems, networking, and device drivers run as user-space servers. The design emphasizes modularity, formalized interfaces, and a small trusted computing base. It includes a minimal in-kernel scheduler with optional real-time extensions and supports secure boot.

Development and ecosystem: Development is hosted on a public repository with issue tracking and continuous integration. The project maintains developer documentation, API references, and packaging scripts for major Linux distributions. While not widely used in production, nulVOS has been cited in academic contexts as a case study in system design and security.

Reception and status: As of the last update, nulVOS remains an active but niche project with a small user base. Hardware compatibility and driver availability remain common constraints, but its architecture is cited for clarity of separation between kernel and user-space components.