MeowOS

A minimal, custom linux-based "operating system", with custom shell, init, busybox, v6.1 kernel, etc.

Project Structure

• / - Main project directory
  • /shell - Custom shell implementation
  • /init - Custom init.sh + init.c wrapper implementation
  • /initramfs - Generated directory for initial ramdisk
  • Makefile - Main build system
  • kernel.config.tiny - Smaller linux kernel configuration
  • kernel.config.def - Default/heavier linux kernel configuration
  • busybox.config - BusyBox configuration
  • initramfs-shallow - Hard files to copy into initramfs

Building

Prerequisites

• GCC and development tools
• Linux kernel source code in ../linux (relative to the meowos directory)
• Internet connection (for downloading BusyBox)
• QEMU for testing

Build Commands

# Build everything for x86_64 -> bzImage,cpio + iso (shell, init, busybox, initramfs, kernel)
make all

# Build just the shell
make {shell,init}

# Menuconfig for kernel, busybox
make {menuconfig_kernel,menuconfig_busybox}

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

# Clean everything including downloaded components
make distclean

# Run the OS in QEMU
make run

Linux Kernel - Git Submodule

# From the meowos parent directory
git submodule add --depth=1 https://github.com/torvalds/linux.git linux
git submodule update --init --depth=1 linux
cd linux
git checkout v6.1  # or your desired stable version