Topics / #operating-system

Operating-system projects on GitHub

Operating system development and low-level system software

As of , the most-starred Operating-system projects on GitHub are build-your-own-x (554.6K stars), linux (252.6K stars) and CS-Notes (186.3K stars). GitHub.Locker tracks 71 Operating-system repositories with 2.3M stars combined. The fastest-growing on October 19 was ios-sweet, with +364 stars in a day.

71Projects
2.3MStars in total
+1.3KStars in a day
Browse in the catalog →github.com/topics/operating-system ↗

Hot right now

Most stars gained in a day · Oct 19

+364

ios-sweet

dipa-studio/ios-sweet · ★ 490

ios-sweet ports Apple's open-source XNU kernel (xnu-8796, the iOS 16 generation) to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (sweet, Qualcomm SM7150), running the real iPhone X iOS 16.7.16 userland (launchd, SpringBoard, backboardd, stock apps) on the phone.

+277

build-your-own-x

codecrafters-io/build-your-own-x · ★ 554.6K

It's a curated collection of step-by-step guides that show you how to rebuild popular technologies (databases, game engines, blockchains, compilers, web browsers, etc.) from scratch, so you understand how they really work.

+248

linux

torvalds/linux · ★ 252.6K

This is the Linux kernel itself - the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware and system resources and provides the fundamental services all other software runs on.

+44

CS-Books

forthespada/CS-Books · ★ 27.6K

A free, hand-curated collection of over 1,000 classic computer science books plus the author's own study notes, shared as a single GitHub README.

The all-time top

71 projects · by stars

  1. #1 · codecrafters-io/build-your-own-x

    build-your-own-x

    It's a curated collection of step-by-step guides that show you how to rebuild popular technologies (databases, game engines, blockchains, compilers, web browsers, etc.) from scratch, so you understand how they really work.

    554.6K
  2. #2 · torvalds/linux

    linux

    This is the Linux kernel itself - the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware and system resources and provides the fundamental services all other software runs on.

    252.6K
  3. #3 · CyC2018/CS-Notes

    CS-Notes

    CS-Notes is a huge Chinese-language collection of study notes covering the core topics of technical coding interviews: algorithms, LeetCode solutions, operating systems, computer networks, databases, Java, and system design.

    186.3K
  1. 4

    free-programming-books-zh_CN

    119.3Kjustjavac/free-programming-books-zh_CN

    A curated, free index of Chinese-language (and Chinese-translated) computer programming books and tutorials, covering operating systems, databases, web development, languages, AI, and more.

  2. 5

    cs-self-learning

    76.3KPKUFlyingPig/cs-self-learning · HTML

    A free, open-source online guide that curates the best open courseware from top international universities so anyone can self-study computer science from scratch, aiming to turn a beginner into a well-rounded programmer in 2-3 years.

  3. 6

    awesome-courses

    72Kprakhar1989/awesome-courses

    It is a curated list of free, high-quality computer science courses from universities around the world, each one making its lecture materials, assignments, notes and readings available online.

  4. 7

    puter

    43.8KHeyPuter/puter · TypeScript

    Puter is an open-source, self-hostable 'internet computer' — a web-based desktop environment that bundles everyday apps, cloud storage, and a developer platform (AI, database, serverless workers) accessible from any browser.

  5. 8

    what-happens-when

    43.4Kalex/what-happens-when

    A long-form, extremely detailed walkthrough answering the classic interview question of what happens when you type google.com into your browser and press enter, tracing the whole path from keypress to rendered page.

  6. 9

    interview

    38.3Khuihut/interview · C++

    A large Chinese-language knowledge base summarizing core C/C++ interview topics — language features, STL, data structures, algorithms, operating systems, networking, databases, design patterns, and the linker/loader — aimed at students and job seekers preparing for C/C++ technical interviews.

  7. 10

    WSL

    34.1Kmicrosoft/WSL · C++

    Windows Subsystem for Linux: a way to run Linux command-line tools, utilities and applications unmodified, directly on Windows, without the overhead of a traditional VM or a dual-boot setup.

  8. 11

    serenity

    33.9KSerenityOS/serenity · C++

    SerenityOS is a graphical Unix-like operating system for 64-bit x86, Arm, and RISC-V computers, built entirely from scratch.

  9. 12

    linux-insides

    33.7K0xAX/linux-insides · Python

    This is a free, work-in-progress book that explains the internals of the Linux kernel, covering topics like booting, memory management, and system calls in deep technical detail.

  10. 13

    anoma

    33.6Kanoma/anoma · Elixir

    Anoma is the reference implementation of the Anoma protocol - a distributed, peer-to-peer system combining blockchain-style consensus and cryptography, written mainly in Elixir with a Rust component.

  11. 14

    MS-DOS

    32.3Kmicrosoft/MS-DOS · Assembly

    The original source code of MS-DOS v1.25, v2.0, and v4.00, published by Microsoft for reference. The v1.25 and v2.0 parts include compiled binaries too, and v4.00 was jointly developed by IBM and Microsoft.

  12. 15

    lede

    31.6Kcoolsnowwolf/lede · C

    Lean's LEDE source: a hugely popular OpenWrt/LEDE fork for building your own router firmware, extended with support for domestic Chinese CPUs like Loongson loongarch64 and Phytium Tengrui D2000.

  13. 16

    os-tutorial

    30.8Kcfenollosa/os-tutorial · C

    A step-by-step tutorial that walks you through building a small operating system from scratch, starting at the boot sector and moving up to a basic kernel.

  14. 17

    openwrt

    28.8Kopenwrt/openwrt · C

    OpenWrt is a Linux-based operating system built for embedded devices, mostly routers, that replaces a single static vendor firmware with a fully writable filesystem and its own package manager so you can customize the device however you want.

  15. 18

    CS-Books

    27.6Kforthespada/CS-Books

    A free, hand-curated collection of over 1,000 classic computer science books plus the author's own study notes, shared as a single GitHub README.

  16. 19

    nixpkgs

    26.5KNixOS/nixpkgs · Nix

    Nixpkgs is a collection of over 140,000 software packages that can be installed using the Nix package manager, and it also implements NixOS, a purely-functional Linux distribution built on top of those packages.

  17. 20

    flash-linux0.11-talk

    22.7Kdibingfa/flash-linux0.11-talk · HTML

    This is a Chinese-language article series that walks line by line through the full source code of the Linux 0.11 kernel, explaining operating system design concepts as if reading a novel.

  18. 21

    How-to-Make-a-Computer-Operating-System

    22.4KSamyPesse/How-to-Make-a-Computer-Operating-System · C

    This is a free online book that walks you through writing a simple UNIX-based operating system in C++ from scratch.

  19. 22

    Atlas

    21.9KAtlas-OS/Atlas · Batchfile

    Atlas is an open-source modification for Windows that optimizes an existing install for performance, privacy and usability: it strips telemetry, debloats the system and applies tweaks — no custom ISO involved.

  20. 23

    Interview_Question_for_Beginner

    21.8Kjbee37142/Interview_Question_for_Beginner

    A curated repository of technical interview guidelines and study notes for beginner developers and job seekers, covering CS fundamentals, languages, and field-specific topics.

  21. 24

    HarmonyOS

    20KAwesome-HarmonyOS/HarmonyOS · C

    This is a curated list of resources about HarmonyOS, the microkernel-based distributed operating system developed by Huawei. It aggregates official docs, architecture references, developer tools, drivers, books, and videos about the OS rather than being the OS itself.

  22. 25

    CS-Base

    18.5Kxiaolincoder/CS-Base

    This is a free, illustrated Chinese guide to core computer science fundamentals - computer networking, operating systems, computer organization, and databases - built from over 1,000 diagrams and 500,000+ words, aimed at making notoriously dry CS topics (and common interview questions) actually understandable.

  23. 26

    reactos

    18.3Kreactos/reactos · C

    A free, open-source operating system (GNU GPL 2.0) built to run the applications and drivers written for the Windows NT family, from NT4 through 7; compatibility work currently focuses on Windows Server 2003.

  24. 27

    openfang

    18.2KRightNow-AI/openfang · Rust

    OpenFang is an open-source Agent Operating System written in Rust. Instead of a chatbot that waits for your prompt, it runs autonomous agents 24/7 — on schedules, monitoring targets, building knowledge graphs and reporting results to a dashboard.

  25. 28

    blog_os

    17.8Kphil-opp/blog_os · HTML

    Source code for the 'Writing an OS in Rust' blog series at os.phil-opp.com - step-by-step posts that build a small x86-64 operating system kernel in Rust.

  26. 29

    toBeBetterJavaer

    17.8Kitwanger/toBeBetterJavaer · Java

    toBeBetterJavaer (二哥的Java进阶之路) is a free, community-built Chinese knowledge base of original articles covering Java fundamentals, concurrency, the JVM, enterprise development (Spring Boot, MySQL, Redis) and interview prep, meant to help readers 'become a better Java developer'.

  27. 30

    tech-interview-for-developer

    17.6Kgyoogle/tech-interview-for-developer · Java

    This is a Korean encyclopedia of CS fundamentals and technical interview questions for entry-level developers, covering computer architecture, data structures, databases, networks, operating systems, algorithms, design patterns, and programming languages.

  28. 31

    sway

    17.4Kswaywm/sway · C

    Sway is an i3-compatible Wayland compositor: the program that draws and arranges your windows on Linux, tiling them automatically like the i3 window manager.

  29. 32

    interview_python

    17.4Ktaizilongxu/interview_python · Shell

    A curated collection of common Python interview questions and detailed answers, covering Python language features, operating systems, and databases.

  30. 33

    awesome-raspberry-pi

    17Kthibmaek/awesome-raspberry-pi · Shell

    A curated list of Raspberry Pi tools, projects, OS images and resources, maintained in the spirit of the Awesome Manifesto.

  31. 34

    systemd

    16.9Ksystemd/systemd · C

    systemd is the system and service manager for Linux — the init system that brings the OS up at boot and supervises services while it runs.

  32. 35

    zephyr

    16.8Kzephyrproject-rtos/zephyr · C

    Zephyr is an open source real-time operating system (RTOS) — a small-footprint kernel for resource-constrained embedded devices, supporting many hardware architectures and built with security in mind.

  33. 36

    redox

    16.6Kredox-os/redox · Rust

    Redox is an open-source operating system written in Rust that uses a microkernel architecture, aiming to be reliable, secure and usable while providing a full set of components like a file system, display server and core utilities.

  34. 37

    rust-raspberrypi-OS-tutorials

    14.7Krust-embedded/rust-raspberrypi-OS-tutorials · Rust

    A step-by-step tutorial series that teaches you how to write your own embedded Operating System kernel from scratch in Rust, targeting the Raspberry Pi 3 and 4.

  35. 38

    raspberry-pi-os

    14Ks-matyukevich/raspberry-pi-os · C

    A step-by-step guide that teaches you how to create a simple operating system kernel from scratch, called RPi OS. Its code is largely based on the Linux kernel, and everything targets the Raspberry Pi 3.

  36. 39

    reinstall

    13.8Kbin456789/reinstall · Shell

    A one-click script that reinstalls a VPS's operating system over the network: about 20 common Linux distros, or Windows from official ISOs — and the machine can currently be running either Linux or Windows.

  37. 40

    os01

    13.8Ktuhdo/os01 · TeX

    It's a free book, 'Operating Systems: From 0 to 1', that walks a self-learner through the foundational knowledge needed to write an operating system from scratch.

  38. 41

    linux

    13.3Kraspberrypi/linux · C

    This is Raspberry Pi's own Linux kernel source tree: the code its official Pi kernels are built from, with Pi-specific drivers and patches carried on top of the mainline Linux kernel.

  39. 42

    lowlevelprogramming-university

    12.8Kgurugio/lowlevelprogramming-university

    A curated roadmap for learning low-level programming (assembly, C, Rust, embedded systems, Linux kernel), inspired by google-interview-university. It is a single long README with links to books, courses, and projects organized by topic.

  40. 43

    The-Complete-FAANG-Preparation

    12.3KAkashSingh3031/The-Complete-FAANG-Preparation · Jupyter Notebook

    A large curated repository of resources for preparing for FAANG-style technical interviews: Data Structures and Algorithms sheets (450 DSA by Love Babbar, Striver's SheetS, Apna College), FAANG interview questions, core CS subjects, and system design material.

  41. 44

    rt-thread

    12.3KRT-Thread/rt-thread · C

    RT-Thread is an open source, community-based real-time operating system (RTOS) for embedded and IoT devices, mainly written in C.

  42. 45

    fullstack-tutorial

    11.7Kfrank-lam/fullstack-tutorial · Java

    A free, Chinese-language collection of study notes for fullstack and backend engineers: twelve chapters from algorithms and Java to databases, distributed systems and machine learning, organized as a skill tree and geared toward interviews.

  43. 46

    talos

    11.4Ksiderolabs/talos · Go

    Talos is a modern Linux-based operating system built specifically for running Kubernetes: secure, immutable, and minimal, with all system management done through an API instead of a shell.

  44. 47

    darwin-xnu

    11.3Kapple/darwin-xnu · C

    This is the source code of the XNU kernel, the core of Darwin, the operating system behind macOS and iOS. It is the kernel that ships on Apple devices, published as source for reading, building and debugging.

  45. 48

    platform_frameworks_base

    10.8Kaosp-mirror/platform_frameworks_base · Java

    This is a GitHub mirror of the 'frameworks/base' repository from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), containing the core Java framework code that powers the Android OS, including system services like the Activity Manager, Window Manager, Package Manager, and the View/UI toolkit.

  46. 49

    CS-Xmind-Note

    10.8KSSHeRun/CS-Xmind-Note

    This is a collection of mind maps and notes covering the core CS graduate exam subjects in China (known as '408'): computer organization, operating systems, data structures, computer networks, and databases, with an added section on information security.

  47. 50

    xv6-riscv

    10.7Kmit-pdos/xv6-riscv · C

    xv6-riscv is a re-implementation of the original Unix Version 6 (v6) operating system, rewritten in ANSI C and ported to run on modern RISC-V multiprocessors. It is used as the teaching operating system for MIT's 6.1810 operating systems course.

  48. 51

    MediaCreationTool.bat

    10.3KAveYo/MediaCreationTool.bat · Batchfile

    A universal wrapper script around Microsoft's official Media Creation Tool (MCT) that works for every Windows 10/11 release from build 1507 to 21H2, adding business-edition support and upgrade automation on top of the stock tool.

  49. 52

    Waking-Up

    10.3Kwolverinn/Waking-Up

    A Chinese-language notebook of computer-science fundamentals interview questions (networking, OS, databases, Git, design patterns, Python, tools) built by the author to prepare for backend developer campus hiring at big Chinese tech companies.

  50. 53

    astrid

    10.3Kastrid-runtime/astrid · Rust

    Astrid is a portable, capability-secure operating system for composable software: apps are sandboxed WebAssembly capsules that connect through typed interfaces, each with its own capabilities and durable state.

  51. 54

    amlogic-s9xxx-armbian

    10.2Kophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian · Shell

    This is a project that lets you replace the Android TV firmware on Amlogic, Allwinner, and Rockchip TV boxes and SBCs with Armbian, turning them into real Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux servers. It also ships management commands for installing, updating the kernel, and configuring the resulting system.

  52. 55

    aos-ce

    8.5Kunicity-aos/aos-ce · Rust

    AOS Community Edition is an open-source 'agent operating system' that gives AI agents an inspectable, composable environment, built around the aos CLI, an HTTP API, pre-built capsules, and audit tooling.

  53. 56

    sdk-rust

    4.3Kastrid-runtime/sdk-rust · Rust

    This is the Rust SDK for building Astrid 'capsules' - sandboxed WASM modules that act as user-space processes in the Astrid OS model, with safe typed access to kernel services like filesystem, IPC, networking, storage, approval, and scheduling.

  54. 57

    rfcs

    4.2Kastrid-runtime/rfcs · Python

    This repository holds RFCs (design proposals) that define any substantial change to the contract between Astrid's kernel and user-space, covering the host ABI, IPC protocol, capability model, manifest schema, VFS semantics, capsule interface standards, and the SDK's public API.

  55. 58

    src

    3.9Kopenbsd/src · C

    A read-only git mirror of the official source tree of OpenBSD, the open-source Unix-like operating system — converted from the project's original CVS repository so the full source can be browsed and cloned on GitHub.

  56. 59

    coursebook

    3.8Kcs341-illinois/coursebook · TeX

    This is an open-source introductory systems programming textbook (the Coursebook) used by the CS 341: System Programming course at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, covering low-level C programming and Linux internals.

  57. 60

    SDE-Interview-and-Prep-Roadmap

    3.7Kaasthas2022/SDE-Interview-and-Prep-Roadmap · Python

    A massive checklist-style roadmap for preparing for Software Development Engineer (SDE) interviews, covering Data Structures, Algorithms, System Design, Operating Systems, Networking, Databases, Programming Concepts, and System Architecture.

  58. 61

    vinix

    2.7Kvlang/vinix · V

    Vinix is an effort to write a modern, fast, and useful operating system in the V programming language — a hobby OS project that also feeds improvements back into the V compiler.

  59. 62

    dqn-adaptive-cpu-scheduler

    1.5Kaaawangyh/dqn-adaptive-cpu-scheduler · Python

    This is a research-grade repository that implements an adaptive CPU task scheduler trained with a Deep Q-Network (DQN). It includes a simulator of multi-core CPUs with DVFS and a thermal-aware reward, plus training, evaluation, and plotting pipelines.

  60. 63

    motor-os

    1.1Kmoturus/motor-os · Rust

    Motor OS is a simple, fast, and secure operating system built for the cloud. It targets virtualized workloads — web serving, serverless computing, and edge caching — and is written entirely in Rust, kernel to shell.

  61. 64

    os

    821iblai/os · TypeScript

    ibl.ai/os is an open-source AI agent platform for building, deploying, and managing intelligent conversational agents, from prototype to production, with support for any LLM provider.

  62. 65

    ios-sweet

    490dipa-studio/ios-sweet · Python

    ios-sweet ports Apple's open-source XNU kernel (xnu-8796, the iOS 16 generation) to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (sweet, Qualcomm SM7150), running the real iPhone X iOS 16.7.16 userland (launchd, SpringBoard, backboardd, stock apps) on the phone.

  63. 66

    Rungic

    414kevinzhow/Rungic · Python

    Rungic turns a compatible Android phone into a real computer, giving you a full Linux (KDE Plasma) desktop plus an AI assistant, powered by Codex, that can see, speak and act on your behalf.

  64. 67

    ftl

    305nuta/ftl · Rust

    FTL is a new operating system written in Rust that aims to be an alternative to Linux, BSD, and Illumos specifically for cloud environments.

  65. 68

    autumn-recruitment

    273Akun-python/autumn-recruitment · Jupyter Notebook

    It is a community-built, Chinese-language collection of Jupyter notebooks covering math foundations, data structures, machine learning, deep learning, LLMs, agents, AI infrastructure, speech, and data science, aimed at job-hunting ('autumn recruitment') interview prep in the LLM era.

  66. 69

    freemint

    196freemint/freemint · C

    FreeMiNT is a Unix-like kernel for Atari ST and compatible computers, providing multitasking and Unix-style features on classic Atari hardware.

  67. 70

    zxdesk

    142mindbox77/zxdesk · Assembly

    ZxDesk is a graphical desktop environment for the 48K ZX Spectrum, written entirely in Z80 assembly, with overlapping windows, pull-down menus, a file manager, a notepad, clock and calendar, all running natively on the machine.

  68. 71

    lytlnyblOS

    116red-mutt/lytlnyblOS · C

    lytlnyblOS ('little nibble OS') is a small 32-bit operating system built from scratch to teach beginners OS development practically. You write every line of it yourself while following the companion book.

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