What is VitruvianOS?
Vitruvian, also known as V\OS, is the human-centric Operating System. Built on Linux and inspired by BeOS, it brings the elegance and simplicity of a classic operating system to modern hardware without sacrificing the power and hardware support that Linux provides.
Custom-built kernel modules deliver a responsive, low-latency desktop experience. The BeOS/Haiku API is supported on Linux with minimal to no changes required to application source code.
Philosophy
- Fast and reactive: Minimal latency from input to response. No bloat, no unnecessary services competing for your attention.
- Highly integrated: The Vitruvian desktop, applications, and system services are designed to work as a coherent whole.
- It’s your computer: No telemetry, no hidden agendas. V\OS doesn’t work against you.
- KISS: Simple by design. Anyone can feel at home quickly.
- Out of the box: Sensible defaults. Everything works without configuration.
Technical Foundation
The reference boot filesystems are XFS and SquashFS, both with full extended attribute support. XFS for standard desktop installs, SquashFS for live images and embedded targets. Ext4 and most other Linux filesystems with extended attribute support also work. Filesystem indexing, live queries, and multiuser support with graphical login are on the roadmap.
Nexus
At the heart of VitruvianOS is Nexus, a set of custom Linux kernel modules that bridge Linux with the BeOS/Haiku runtime. Nexus implements the BeOS node monitor API (filesystem event notifications), device and volume tracking, and a messaging bridge that routes kernel events to the BeOS messaging infrastructure in userspace. It is what makes it possible to run unmodified BeOS/Haiku application source code on Linux.
License
Vitruvian is released under a hybrid GPL/MIT license. It is completely free of cost and fully open source.
Community
- GitHub: VitruvianOS
- Telegram Chat: vitruvian_official_chat
- Telegram Updates: vitruvian_official
- Mailing List: freelists.org/list/vitruvian