1.7. Influences

How vortexOS Was Influenced by Other Operating Systems

Plan 9

Plan 9, an operating system developed by Bell Labs, brings the concept of "Everything is a File" to its highest level by handling all system communication through the filesystem. This philosophy has strongly influenced vortexOS, which adopts a similar approach to create a more unified and efficient system API.

Minix

Minix is one of the most influential Unix-like systems with a microkernel architecture. It includes advanced features such as system modularity, kernel panic resistance, driver reincarnation, protection against faulty drivers, and secure interfaces for process communication. vortexOS is heavily influenced by Minix, sharing a similar architecture but with a feature set implemented in Rust, which enhances both security and reliability.

seL4

seL4 is known as the most performant and simplest microkernel in the world. vortexOS follows similar principles, striving to keep the kernel space as minimal as possible by moving components to user space and reducing the number of system calls. This approach not only simplifies the kernel but also maintains overall system performance by minimizing the cost of context switching.

BSD

The BSD family of Unix systems introduced several improvements to the original Unix systems, and the open-source variants of BSD brought many additional enhancements. Specific influences on vortexOS include:

• FreeBSD: The Capsicum (a capability-based security system) and jails (a sandbox technology) from FreeBSD have influenced the implementation of namespaces in vortexOS.

• OpenBSD: The system call, filesystem, display server, and audio server sandboxes from OpenBSD have inspired various security features in vortexOS.

Linux

Linux, the most advanced monolithic kernel and the largest open-source project in the world, has introduced numerous improvements and optimizations to Unix-like systems. vortexOS aims to implement these performance enhancements within a microkernel design, combining the efficiency of Linux with the security and modularity of a microkernel architecture.