title = "FAQ"This page covers questions and answers for newcomers and end-users.
- What is Redox?
- What does Redox mean?
- What features does Redox have?
- What is the purpose of Redox?
- What I can do with Redox?
- What is an Unix-like OS?
- How Redox is inspired by other systems?
- What is a microkernel?
- What programs can Redox run?
- How to install programs on Redox?
- Which are the Redox variants?
- Which devices does Redox support?
- I have a low-end computer, would Redox work on it?
- Which virtual machines does Redox have integration with?
- How do I build Redox?
- How to troubleshoot your build in case of errors
- How to report bugs on Redox
- How do I contribute to Redox?
- I have a problem/question for Redox team
What is Redox?
Redox is a microkernel-based, complete, fully-functioning and general-purpose operating system created in 2015, with a focus on safety, freedom, reliability, correctness, and pragmatism.
Wherever possible, the system components are written in Rust and run in user-space.
Current status
Redox is alpha/beta quality software, because we implement new features while fixing the bugs.
Because of this, it's not ready for daily usage yet. Feel free to test the system until its maturity and don't store your sensitive data without a proper backup.
The 1.0 version will be released once all system APIs are considered stable.
What does Redox mean?
Redox is the chemical reaction (reduction–oxidation) that creates rust. As Redox is an operating system written in Rust, it makes sense.
It sounds like Minix and Linux too.
What features does Redox have?
Microkernel benefits
- True modularity
You can modify/change many system components without a system restart, similar to but safer than some kernel modules and livepatching.
- Bug isolation
Most system components run in user-space on a microkernel system. Because of this, bugs in most system components won't crash the system/kernel.
- Restartless design
A mature microkernel changes very little (except for bug fixes), so you won't need to restart your system very often to update it.
Since most of the system components are in userspace, they can be replaced on-the-fly, reducing downtime of servers a lot.
- Easy to develop and debug
Most of the system components run in userspace, simplifying the testing and debugging.
You can read more about the above benefits on this page.
Rust benefits
- Less likely to have bugs
The restrictive syntax and compiler requirements to build the code reduce the probability of bugs a lot.
- Less vulnerable to data corruption
The Rust compiler helps the programmer to avoid memory errors and race conditions, which reduces the probability of data corruption bugs.