Software:Ghost (operating system)

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Short description: Operating system
Ghost OS
Ghost 0.5.3 Screenshot.png
DeveloperMax Schlüssel
Working stateAlpha
Source modelOpen source
Initial release2014; 10 years ago (2014)
|Final preview|Latest preview}}0.12.0 / October 9, 2022; 21 months ago (2022-10-09)
Marketing targetPersonal computer
PlatformsIA-32
Kernel typeMicro kernel
LicenseGPLv3
Official websiteghostkernel.org

Ghost is an open-source[1] hobbyist operating system and kernel. It has been under development since 2014[2] and is currently compatible with the x86 platform.

The system is based on a microkernel and features symmetric multi-processing and multitasking. Most of the kernel and system program are written in C++.

Design

The architectural concept is a micro-kernel design. Many of the functionalities that are usually integrated in the kernel in a monolithic or hybrid system are implemented as user-level applications. All system drivers are running as user-space processes. This approach attempts to improve stability and to avoid crashes due to faulty access or memory corruption. The system supports 32-bit ELF binary and shared object loading.

The kernel provides a system call API that is used for all inter-process communications and system commands. Driver processes access this interface to manage memory or request direct resource access. The window manager provides a messaging interface to other processes

Compatibility

The libc implementation is partially POSIX.1 compatible. The implementation incorporates the libm from the musl C library. The C++ standard library libstdc++ is supported. This was introduced to allow porting of third-party software, especially from the GNU environment, which heavily depend on standard C and POSIX functions.

See also

  • TempleOS – another operating system developed largely from scratch
  • ToaruOS – similar hobbyist operating system by K. Lange

References