Plans for GenOS
GenOS is Experimental / ALPHA software. We are working toward a dependable kernel and a useful terminal on one precisely defined reference VM. There is still plenty to do: R1, R2 and R3 are all unfinished. Here is a short version of ROADMAP.md (updated 19 October 2026); please see that file for all the requirements and test results.
Each milestone groups several checks, called gates. The short codes below match the full roadmap, so you can find the details there. See the glossary for unfamiliar terms.
What we are working toward
| Milestone | Required result |
|---|---|
| R1 — Verified kernel reference | Pass the kernel checks F0–F7 and the relevant S1 storage-failure checks, using one supported CPU and the exact reference VM setup. |
| R2 — Useful console preview | Reach R1, then pass S1/S2 and C1–C4: run native programs, save files, connect program input and output, edit text, manage jobs and recover the terminal. |
| R3 — Stable console reference | Reach R2, then pass C5 and Stage 10: repeatable developer tasks and long-running console tests on the named VM. |
R3 is our proposed target for a stable console reference. Reaching it would not mean support for general hardware or readiness for production, secrets or hostile workloads. The engineering release levels also have their own quality requirements.
Work still to do
Most groups of checks are still Partial. Having the code and passing a local test only tells us about the work that test covered. Checking off one item does not finish the whole group.
| Gate | Status | Remaining scope |
|---|---|---|
| F0 — Verification | Partial | Checks are published and enforced; independent reference reproduction remains open. |
| F1 — Entry & context | Partial | Complete CPU-state, nested-fault and return-fault qualification. |
| F2 — Page protection | Partial | Broader mapping and CPU-profile access qualification. |
| F3 — Memory ownership | Partial | Sharing, device lifetime, driver adoption and raw-reference retirement. |
| F4 — Module boundaries | Partial | Wider subsystem decomposition and ownership review. |
| F5 — Concurrency | Partial | Shared-state audit, context assertions and synchronization contracts. |
| F6 — Test layers | Partial | Coverage-guided targets, failure matrices and sustained validation. |
| F7 — Delivery | Partial | Per-release evidence and independent review. |
| S1/S2 — Storage | Partial overall | S1’s four criteria are checked under stated device assumptions. S2 capacity, integration and migration remain incomplete. |
| C1–C4 — Console platform | Partial | General application/stream integration and complete terminal, job and recovery workflows. |
| C5 — Console acceptance | Planned | Proposed targets have not run as a complete qualification. |
| Stage 10 — Qualification | Planned | Independent console checklist; later production promotion is a separate review. |
Some things for later
- Hardened/network profile: explicit authority and threat model, trusted distribution, reviewed cryptography and qualified network behavior.
- Physical console reference: R3 plus qualification of one named machine and its devices, firmware and recovery path. SMP and power work have separate gates.
- Graphical system: Stage 9 is Deferred until R3 and the needed application, security and device contracts. Graphics remains in userspace.
For now, we have room for four managed asynchronous processes (including the shell), 32 entries in the virtual file system (VFS), 512-byte files and 64-byte paths. These are current limits; they are not what we hope to stop at. See known limitations and test records for each source revision.