Obelisk OS, the not so minimal, minimal UNIX-like kernel.

Minimalist and educational in nature, born from nightmares.

From Axioms, Order. Also, its called Obelisk-OS because it is MONOLITHic.

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Welcome newcomers! this repo has just passed basic testing and now has become public. Feel free to read source code, and jump through docs.

Also, i lost my sanity in some of the network drivers, ignore that.

Please go to docs directory and see scaffolds, and roadmaps. Contributions needed, and welcomed always!

Obelisk is a standalone Unix-like OS focused on a practical minimal base system that is CLI-first and desktop-capable. (in the future, desktop support in works)

Repo: https://github.com/RobertFlexx/ObeliskOS

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Screenshots

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Official Target Profile

ObeliskOS does NOT have working xdm or xfce yet.

Obelisk is converging on one clear daily-usable path:

• minimal, stable Unix-like base system
• official desktop environment: XFCE
• official display/login manager: XDM
• official package manager: opkg
• package ecosystem: binary-first .opk delivery
• single supported desktop path first (no KDE/GNOME parity work in this phase)

future opkg repo mirror here

This project values coherence and reliability over feature count.

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System Philosophy

• Keep the base system small, auditable, and recoverable
• Prefer traditional Unix behavior where practical
• Keep TTY shell as the safe fallback path
• Treat desktop support as an extension of a stable base, not a separate OS
• Ship practical milestones, avoid speculative mega-abstractions

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Current Architecture

• Kernel: monolithic x86_64 kernel in C with assembly bootstrap paths
• Filesystem: AxiomFS and VFS/devfs stack
• Control surface: sysctl-first operational model
• Userland: small libc + compact base tools + rockbox shell/tool multiplexer
• Packages: native opkg and .opk repository flow

OBELISK OPKG IS NOT OPENWRT OPKG! OPKG in-environment isn't stable, static local repository. web-repos in progress, contribs? please? lol

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Languages Used

C • C++ • D • Shell • Makefile • Prolog • Zig • Assembly

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Repository Layout

• kernel/ - kernel source
• userland/ - user programs, libc, init/session tools
• opkg/ - package manager and package examples
• docs/ - project direction, roadmap, and release docs
• rootfs-overlay/ - optional rootfs overlay content
• Makefile - top-level build and ISO packaging

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Build Prerequisites

• x86_64-elf-gcc toolchain (or CROSS_COMPILE=<prefix>)
• GNU Make
• GRUB 2 tooling (grub-mkrescue)
• QEMU
• tar

To build a cross-compiler with the helper script:

./tools/mkaxiomfs/cross-compile.sh
export PATH="$HOME/opt/cross/bin:$PATH"

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Build and Run

Build full artifact set:

make

Component builds:

make kernel
make userland
make rootfs
make iso

Run:

make run
make run-gui
make run-kvm

Debug boot:

make debug

Clean:

make clean

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Roadmap and Policy Docs (if u wanna see whats next in the future & what to expect)

• Newcomer repo map / placement guide: docs/repository-map.md
• Main phased plan: docs/roadmap.md
• Desktop/XDM path: docs/desktop-roadmap.md
• Packaging policy and package waves: docs/packaging-policy.md
• Release gate checklist: docs/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
• Installer details: docs/INSTALLER.md

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Release Direction

Obelisk is pre-1.0 (not stable!!!) . "Release-ready" currently means:

• reproducible builds and installable artifacts
• stable boot/session fallback behavior
• predictable package install/update/remove flow
• documented known gaps and validation gates

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Inspirations

OpenBSD — comments style, minimalism and hardware handling NetBSD — philosophy Linux — printk UNIX — philosophy

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Credits / Testers

• bigguy118 is now tester
• Kokonico is now tester

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License

This project is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause license. See LICENSE for details.