// ITS FOSS — LINUX & OPEN SOURCE
Vinix is Not a Linux Distro, But it Can Run Games, Docker, and QEMU
How does an operating system that isn't proprietary or powered by the Linux kernel manage to run Docker, you ask? Well, it would need features like namespaces and cgroups.
That's exactly what Vinix did, adding its own implementations of those plus overlayfs and seccomp, allowing the stock Alpine Linux Docker engine to run on ARM64.
It also runs QEMU 9.1.2, which can boot a second Vinix inside a window of the first, and for gaming, it can run DOOM, a DOOM 3 demo, Gothic II's demo via OpenGothic, and Minecraft Java Edition.
For instance, the Docker support lacks bridge networking and iptables rules, and QEMU runs on software emulation for now. Minecraft runs in interpreter mode on one CPU core, and DOOM 3 manages about 13 FPS under software rendering.
Vinix exists to give MacBooks a fast, minimal, open source OS, with the project's motivation being tied to macOS getting slower and bloated with every passing release. They are initially targeting Apple Silicon devices to eventually cover the whole M-series lineup, though only the M1 is supported right now.
While Linux users have little reason to switch to it, Vinix aims for a setup without systemd and a kernel small enough for one person to read through.
Beyond that, nothing runs in the background unless you start it, and the system sticks to a single init system, desktop, package manager, and binary format. The kernel handles memory manually instead of using a garbage collector, so a cleanup pass can't interrupt a system call or the compositor.
All of it runs on a V programming language foundation, which was picked for its fast compiles and small, readable design. The project doubles as a testbed for bare metal programming in V too!
The security model of the OS is modeled after OpenBSD, with pledge and unveil available, though apps must opt in, and user memory can't be both writable and executable by default. Verifying the bootloader, kernel, and root filesystem isn't supported yet.
At its core, Vinix is a monolithic kernel booted through Limine, with its drivers built into the image. Most of it is V, alongside some C and assembly.