The Redox operating system project has unveiled an ambitious roadmap for 2025/26 that includes a fascinating approach to solving one of the biggest challenges facing alternative operating systems: hardware driver support. Rather than porting thousands of device drivers, the Redox team plans to run a stripped-down Linux system inside QEMU to handle drivers for less common and older hardware devices.
Revolutionary Driver Architecture Sparks Community Interest
The proposed driver strategy has captured significant attention from the tech community. The approach involves porting QEMU to Redox, then running a minimal Linux distribution within it specifically to provide device driver support. This creates a secure interface between Redox and the Linux guest system, potentially offering reasonable safety while dramatically expanding hardware compatibility.
Community members have noted that this technique isn't entirely unprecedented. Similar approaches have been used with USB-to-serial adapters and Windows XP guests on newer Linux systems. The concept builds on existing technologies like PCI and USB passthrough implemented in QEMU and Xen, along with related work in SR-IOV and IOMMU spaces.
One community member pointed out that HarmonyOS NEXT already implements something similar for driver support in production phones, suggesting this approach has real-world viability.
Self-Hosting Development Environment Takes Priority
Beyond the driver innovation, Redox is pushing hard toward becoming self-hosting, allowing developers to build and run code directly on the native kernel. This represents a significant milestone that would make development much faster and more pleasant for contributors.
The self-hosting effort faces several technical challenges, including improving network performance through ring buffer implementation, moving to the upstream Rust compiler, and enhancing the reliability of Cargo and the Rust toolchain on Redox. The team acknowledges that compilers and build systems serve as a torture test for operating systems, spawning many processes and performing intensive file operations.
Key Technical Priorities for 2025/26
Self-Hosting Development:
- Network performance improvements with ring buffers
- Upstream Rust compiler integration
- Cargo and build system reliability
- VirtIO-S file system service for host access
Hardware Support Focus:
- ACPI and firmware management improvements
- WiFi driver stack development
- USB and I2C driver enhancements
- IOMMU and virtualization features
Security Implementation:
- Capability-based security system
- File descriptor replacement with capabilities
- Resource namespace restrictions
- POSIX-style compatibility layer
Security and Compatibility Remain Core Focus
The roadmap emphasizes Redox's commitment to capability-based security, with plans to replace the underlying file descriptor representation with capabilities over the next 12 months. This fundamental change will enable more granular resource access control and better sandboxing capabilities.
However, some community members have expressed concerns about the decision to make libc the primary system interface. Critics argue for a more Linux-like stable syscall API or at least a thin wrapper around syscalls, rather than relying heavily on compatibility layers.
Redox OS Development Variants
| Variant | Target Use Case | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted Runtime | Web services in VM | Linux host, QEMU/KVM, VirtIO-S support |
| Server Edition | Edge/Cloud deployment | Bare metal, multi-tenant containers, lightweight sandboxing |
| Desktop Edition | Daily driver OS | COSMIC Desktop, Wayland support, sandboxing by default |
Desktop and Server Variants Target Different Markets
Redox is developing along three distinct paths: a hosted web services runtime, a bare-metal server solution, and a desktop environment. The desktop variant aims to support the COSMIC Desktop environment, which requires implementing Wayland support and GPU acceleration through technologies like virglrenderer.
The server approach focuses on providing secure, lightweight sandboxing for web services, databases, and applications. This represents what the team considers the most valuable application for Redox, particularly in edge computing and eventually multi-tenant cloud scenarios.
The ambitious roadmap demonstrates Redox's evolution from an experimental project to a potentially viable alternative operating system. While challenges remain in areas like WiFi support, USB compatibility, and accessibility features, the innovative driver strategy could help Redox overcome one of the most significant barriers to adoption faced by alternative operating systems.
Reference: Development Priorities for 2025/26