Open-source operating-systems software
1492 open-source libraries, tools and applications tagged operating-systems, ranked by how closely operating-systems is their primary purpose, then by adoption and maintenance health. Each entry links to a page with sources, use cases and when to choose or avoid it.
1492 products, primary matches first, then adoption-weighted; health v2 shown.
| Product | Health v2 | Stars | Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
| includeos/IncludeOS IncludeOS is a minimal, resource-efficient unikernel operating system for C++ services, linked directly into your application via `#include… | 56 | 5253 | active |
| rbreaves/kinto Kinto remaps keyboard shortcuts on Linux and Windows to match macOS conventions, using xkeysnail on Linux and AutoHotkey on Windows. It shi… | 23 | 5240 | active |
| dylanaraps/neofetch Neofetch is a command-line system information tool written in bash 3.2+ that displays OS, software, and hardware info alongside a distro lo… | 10 | 23656 | maintenance |
| johnste/finicky Finicky is a macOS application that acts as your default browser and routes each URL to the browser you choose based on configurable rules.… | 78 | 5189 | active |
| KDAB/hotspot Hotspot is a standalone Qt-based GUI for analyzing Linux perf performance data, providing flame graphs, timelines, caller/callee views, and… | 76 | 5186 | active |
| IsmaelMartinez/teams-for-linux An unofficial Electron-based desktop client for Microsoft Teams on Linux, wrapping the Teams web app with native integrations. It adds syst… | 95 | 5158 | active |
| Clover Bootloader Clover is an open-source EFI bootloader capable of booting macOS, Windows, and Linux on PCs with UEFI or legacy BIOS firmware. It provides … | 97 | 5135 | active |
| Flatpak Flatpak is a framework for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux. It lets developers package an app o… | 94 | 5093 | stable |
| mylinuxforwork/dotfiles ML4W OS is a full-featured dotfiles configuration that turns Hyprland, a dynamic tiling Wayland window manager, into a complete desktop env… | 87 | 5028 | active |
| V4bel/dirtyfrag Dirty Frag is a proof-of-concept Linux kernel local privilege escalation exploit written in C. It chains the xfrm-ESP (CVE-2026-43284) and … | 47 | 5018 | active |
| ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux The official issue tracking repository for Valve's Steam client on Linux, primarily used to report and triage bugs in the Steam for Linux b… | 37 | 4877 | active |
| kardianos/service A Go library that lets programs run as system services (daemons) across Windows, Linux (systemd, Upstart, SysV), and macOS (Launchd) with a… | 74 | 4848 | stable |
| Aya Aya is a Rust library for building and loading eBPF programs on Linux, implemented entirely in Rust without libbpf or BCC. It provides BTF-… | 93 | 4846 | active |
| mangerlahn/Latest Latest is a free, open-source macOS utility that checks whether your installed apps are up to date, aggregating updates from the Mac App St… | 61 | 4823 | active |
| yshui/picom picom is a lightweight X11 compositor forked from Compton that adds window effects like shadows, transparency, blur, and animations. It is … | 74 | 4807 | active |
| XLibre Xserver XLibre Xserver is a community-managed fork of the X.Org display server implementing the X11 protocol, with tear-free modesetting, atomic mo… | 83 | 4790 | active |
| gh0stzk/dotfiles A complete, preconfigured BSPWM desktop environment for Arch Linux distributed as dotfiles, featuring 18 handcrafted themes with an on-the-… | 77 | 4758 | active |
| microsoft/ProcMon-for-Linux A Linux reimagining of the classic Sysinternals Process Monitor (Procmon) tool, providing a convenient and efficient way for Linux develope… | 87 | 4740 | active |
| PancakeTAS/lsfg-vk lsfg-vk is a Vulkan layer that hooks into Vulkan applications on Linux to generate additional frames using Lossless Scaling's frame generat… | 51 | 4712 | active |
| buresdv/Cork Cork is a native macOS GUI for the Homebrew package manager, written in SwiftUI. It simplifies installing, updating, and uninstalling Homeb… | 93 | 4701 | active |
| topgrade-rs/topgrade Topgrade is a Rust CLI tool that detects which package managers and updatable tools are installed on a system and runs the appropriate upgr… | 99 | 4655 | active |
| Almamu/linux-wallpaperengine A Linux application that renders Wallpaper Engine backgrounds, bringing animated Steam Workshop wallpapers to Linux desktops. It is written… | 71 | 4641 | active |
| vinceliuice/grub2-themes A collection of modern-looking GRUB2 bootloader themes (Tela, Vimix, Stylish, WhiteSur) installed via a shell script or NixOS flake module.… | 67 | 4641 | active |
| Tracee Tracee is a Linux runtime security and forensics tool that uses eBPF to trace system calls, network activity, and file operations in real t… | 77 | 4632 | active |
| Lxtharia/minegrub-theme A GRUB bootloader theme that restyles the boot menu to look like Minecraft's main menu, with randomized backgrounds and splash text. It inc… | 67 | 4632 | active |
| riscv-collab/riscv-gnu-toolchain The official GNU toolchain for RISC-V, providing GCC-based C and C++ cross-compilers. It can build bare-metal ELF toolchains (Newlib/Picoli… | 93 | 4625 | active |
| swiftbar/SwiftBar SwiftBar is a macOS application that lets users create custom menu bar items using simple executable shell scripts. It is compatible with t… | 84 | 4600 | active |
| CachyOS A collection of performance-optimized Linux kernel packages for Arch Linux, built from the CachyOS kernel fork with multiple CPU scheduler … | 78 | 4581 | active |
| FreeRTOS The classic FreeRTOS distribution, a real-time operating system for microcontrollers and small microprocessors that submodules the FreeRTOS… | 82 | 4559 | stable |
| KernelSU-Next/KernelSU-Next KernelSU Next is a kernel-based root solution for Android devices, providing superuser access via kernel-level hooks with a companion manag… | 85 | 4526 | active |
| Ulauncher Ulauncher is a fast, feature-rich application launcher for Linux written in Python with GTK+. It provides fuzzy app search, a calculator, f… | 98 | 4524 | active |
| Caelestia Caelestia is a fluid, morphing desktop shell for Linux built with Quickshell and QML, designed for the Hyprland Wayland compositor. It come… | 65 | 4520 | active |
| openrazer/openrazer OpenRazer is a collection of open-source Linux kernel drivers plus a user-space DBus daemon and Python bindings for controlling Razer perip… | 87 | 4509 | active |
| trifectatechfoundation/sudo-rs A memory-safe, safety-oriented reimplementation of the classic sudo and su utilities written in Rust. It is actively maintained, independen… | 92 | 4470 | active |
| Volatility Volatility is an open-source memory forensics framework for extracting digital artifacts from RAM captures of Windows, Linux, and macOS sys… | 88 | 4444 | active |
| SelfControlApp/selfcontrol SelfControl is a free, open-source macOS application that blocks your own access to distracting websites, mail servers, or other internet r… | 69 | 4402 | active |
| micheleg/dash-to-dock Dash to Dock is a GNOME Shell extension that moves the dash out of the activities overview and turns it into a persistent, customizable doc… | 94 | 4392 | stable |
| NonSteamLaunchers A Python-based installer that sets up game launchers like Battle.net, Epic Games, GOG, EA App, and others under a single Proton prefix on S… | 94 | 4374 | active |
| PixlOne/logiops LogiOps is an unofficial userspace driver and daemon (logid) for Logitech devices using the HID++ 2.0+ protocol, such as MX Master mice and… | 46 | 4371 | active |
| albfan/miraclecast MiracleCast is a C implementation of the Wi-Fi Display (Miracast) specification for Linux, providing both Display-Sink and (planned) Displa… | 61 | 4343 | active |
| paperwm/PaperWM PaperWM is a GNOME Shell extension providing scrollable tiling of windows and per-monitor workspaces, inspired by paper notebooks and tilin… | 89 | 4314 | active |
| linuxmint/timeshift Timeshift is a Linux system restore application that protects the system by taking incremental filesystem snapshots using rsync with hardli… | 86 | 4313 | active |
| mywalkb/LSPosed_mod A fork of the LSPosed Xposed framework for Android that adds a CLI and API module for managing module scope without the GUI manager. It pro… | 23 | 4312 | active |
| rfjakob/earlyoom earlyoom is a small daemon written in pure C that monitors available memory and free swap on Linux and kills the largest process when both … | 66 | 4311 | stable |
| UserLAnd UserLAnd is an Android application that lets users run full Linux distributions or specific Linux applications on Android devices without r… | 67 | 4308 | active |
| kanshurichard/enableAppleAI A shell script that enables Apple Intelligence on Macs sold in Mainland China by patching macOS eligibility checks (eligibilityd plist file… | 10 | 4306 | active |
| zsh-users/zsh Zsh (the Z Shell) is a Unix shell written in C, designed for interactive use and also usable as a powerful scripting language. It is a feat… | 76 | 4305 | active |
| riverwm/river River is a non-monolithic Wayland compositor written in Zig that separates the compositor from the window manager, letting users pick or wr… | 66 | 4290 | active |
| sbarex/SourceCodeSyntaxHighlight A macOS Quick Look extension that renders syntax-highlighted previews of source code files in Finder, built on the Highlight library. It sh… | 88 | 4282 | active |
| robinebers/openusage OpenUsage is a free, open-source native macOS menu bar app that tracks usage of AI coding subscriptions like Claude, Codex, Cursor, Copilot… | 80 | 4275 | active |
| Onion Onion is a custom operating system overhaul for the Miyoo Mini and Mini+ retro handheld consoles, built in C. It bundles 100+ emulators, a … | 56 | 4273 | active |
| NixOS/patchelf PatchELF is a small command-line utility for modifying ELF executables and libraries, such as changing the dynamic linker (ELF interpreter)… | 88 | 4265 | stable |
| sebanc/brunch Brunch is a framework that converts official ChromeOS recovery images into bootable generic x86_64 ChromeOS installations for regular PCs. … | 96 | 4263 | active |
| OSv OSv is an open-source modular unikernel operating system designed to run single unmodified Linux applications securely as microVMs on top o… | 67 | 4262 | active |
| AsahiLinux/m1n1 m1n1 is a bootloader and experimentation playground for Apple Silicon Macs, part of the Asahi Linux project. It loads Linux kernels, device… | 94 | 4256 | active |
| Cateners/tiny_container An Android app that provides a one-click, no-root Debian 13 Linux desktop environment via proot, with built-in VNC and Termux:X11 frontends… | 86 | 4256 | active |
| v4l2loopback/v4l2loopback A Linux kernel module that creates virtual V4L2 loopback video devices. Applications can write video into these devices while other applica… | 73 | 4255 | stable |
| wine-mirror/wine Wine is a compatibility layer that runs Microsoft Windows programs (DOS, Win16, Win32, Win64) on Unix-like operating systems without requir… | 76 | 4227 | active |
| ther0n/UnnaturalScrollWheels A macOS menu bar application that inverts the scroll direction for physical mouse scroll wheels while keeping 'Natural' scrolling for track… | 82 | 4216 | active |
| fwupd/fwupd fwupd is a system daemon for Linux that enables session software to safely and automatically update device firmware. It provides a D-Bus in… | 98 | 4192 | stable |
| Touchégg Touchégg is a Linux daemon that recognizes multi-touch gestures on touchpads and touchscreens via libinput and maps them to configurable de… | 31 | 4134 | active |
| bulletmark/libinput-gestures A Python utility that reads libinput touchpad gestures and maps them to user-configured shell commands, typically xdotool key combinations.… | 73 | 4131 | active |
| vinceliuice/Orchis-theme Orchis is a Material Design theme for GNOME/GTK-based desktop environments, built with SCSS and based on the materia-theme. It provides mul… | 80 | 4111 | active |
| Joshua-Riek/ubuntu-rockchip A community project that builds and maintains Ubuntu images for Rockchip RK35xx-based single board computers like the Orange Pi 5, Radxa RO… | 10 | 4109 | active |
| theori-io/copy-fail-CVE-2026-31431 A proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2026-31431, a Linux kernel local privilege escalation bug in the authencesn cryptographic template that … | 47 | 4075 | active |
| apache/nuttx Apache NuttX is a mature, open-source real-time operating system (RTOS) for embedded systems with an emphasis on POSIX/ANSI standards compl… | 77 | 4071 | stable |
| ntfstool/ntfstool NTFS Tool is a free macOS desktop application that provides NTFS disk read-write, mounting, and management support for Mac, including Apple… | 97 | 4042 | active |
| CRIU CRIU (Checkpoint/Restore In Userspace) is a Linux utility that freezes running applications and checkpoints their state to disk, then resto… | 77 | 4029 | active |
| kyleduo/TinyPNG4Mac A native macOS application that acts as a third-party client for the TinyPNG image compression service. Users can drag and drop images or u… | 69 | 4000 | active |
| vdsm/virtual-dsm A Docker container that runs Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) as a virtual machine using QEMU/KVM. It automates the DSM installation and … | 96 | 3986 | active |
| abcz316/SKRoot-linuxKernelRoot SKRoot is a kernel-level hidden root solution for Android that patches stock kernel images without source code, granting root privileges wh… | 93 | 3953 | active |
| speed47/spectre-meltdown-checker A self-contained shell script that checks Linux and BSD systems for vulnerability to transient execution CPU vulnerabilities such as Spectr… | 96 | 3951 | active |
| Mezzano Mezzano is an operating system written entirely in Common Lisp, featuring its own compiler, GUI, networking stack, and file system support.… | 67 | 3914 | active |
| openbsd/src A read-only Git mirror of OpenBSD's official CVS source repository containing the complete operating system source tree, including the kern… | 77 | 3902 | active |
| elenapan/dotfiles A personal collection of Linux desktop configuration files (dotfiles) built around SwayFX, Eww widgets, Neovim, zsh, and rofi. It forms a h… | 48 | 3901 | active |
| iberianpig/fusuma Fusuma is a Ruby-based tool that enables multitouch gesture recognition on Linux using the libinput driver. It lets users map touchpad swip… | 70 | 3897 | active |
| leitbogioro/Tools A shell script (InstallNET.sh) that automates reinstalling Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Kali, Alpine, CentOS, AlmaLinux, RockyLinux… | 46 | 3889 | active |
| Rocket Chip Rocket Chip is a Scala/Chisel-based hardware generator that produces parameterizable RISC-V System-on-Chip designs, emitting Verilog RTL fo… | 65 | 3883 | active |
| unikraft/unikraft Unikraft is an open-source Unikernel Development Kit for building custom, specialized operating system kernels tailored to individual appli… | 82 | 3881 | active |
| Limine-Bootloader/Limine Limine is a modern, secure, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager written in C, and the reference implementation of the Limin… | 96 | 3877 | active |
| mangowm/mango Mango is a lightweight, feature-rich Wayland compositor built on dwl, offering tiling window management with tags, animations, and extensiv… | 85 | 3873 | active |
| acidanthera/Lilu Lilu is an open-source macOS kernel extension (kext) providing a platform for arbitrary kext, library, and process patching. It offers a un… | 62 | 3862 | active |
| 2ndalpha/gasmask Gas Mask is a macOS application for managing and switching between multiple hosts files. It runs in the menu bar, supports local, remote, a… | 51 | 3859 | active |
| cilium/pwru pwru is an eBPF-based CLI tool for tracing network packets through the Linux kernel with fine-grained filtering. It helps debug connectivit… | 86 | 3841 | active |
| casualsnek/waydroid_script A Python CLI script that installs extras like OpenGapps, Magisk, microG, and ARM translation libraries (libhoudini/libndk) into Waydroid co… | 75 | 3824 | active |
| DavidXanatos/TaskExplorer Task Explorer is a powerful task manager for Windows and Linux that provides deep real-time insight into running processes, including threa… | 91 | 3810 | active |
| ptitSeb/box86 Box86 is a Linux userspace x86 (32-bit) emulator written in C, targeted at ARM Linux devices. It uses a dynamic recompiler (dynarec) and na… | 65 | 3807 | active |
| vitorgalvao/custom-alfred-iterm-scripts An AppleScript that integrates iTerm2 with Alfred's custom terminal feature on macOS. Users paste it into Alfred Preferences to make Alfred… | 80 | 3796 | stable |
| axboe/liburing A C library providing helpers to set up and tear down Linux io_uring instances, plus a simplified convenience API for applications that don… | 83 | 3787 | active |
| joncampbell123/dosbox-x DOSBox-X is a cross-platform x86 DOS emulator forked from DOSBox, designed to run MS-DOS games and applications with high accuracy. It addi… | 99 | 3777 | active |
| christianloopp/komorebi Komorebi is an animated wallpapers manager for Linux that supports image, video, and web page wallpapers with full customization. It includ… | 34 | 3766 | active |
| littlekernel/lk LK (Little Kernel) is a small SMP-aware embedded kernel written in C, portable to many 32- and 64-bit CPU architectures including ARM, RISC… | 77 | 3705 | active |
| UMU umu-launcher is a unified launcher for running Windows games on Linux using Proton outside of Steam. It replicates Valve's Steam Runtime To… | 87 | 3702 | active |
| ckb-next/ckb-next ckb-next is an open-source Linux driver for Corsair keyboards and mice, bringing features of Corsair's proprietary CUE software to Linux. I… | 72 | 3695 | active |
| apple-oss-distributions/xnu The XNU kernel source code, the core of Apple's Darwin operating system used in macOS and iOS. It is a hybrid kernel combining the Mach mic… | 68 | 3685 | active |
| spdk/spdk SPDK is a set of C libraries, drivers, and tools for building high-performance, scalable user-mode storage applications. It moves storage d… | 89 | 3683 | stable |
| buildroot/buildroot Buildroot is a Makefile-based tool that generates complete embedded Linux systems through cross-compilation, producing toolchains, bootload… | 76 | 3669 | stable |
| sw33tLie/macshot Macshot is a free, open-source, native macOS screenshot and screen recording tool built with Swift and AppKit. It offers region/window capt… | 76 | 3669 | active |
| orailnoor/DroidDesk DroidDesk is an open-source Android app and setup toolkit that turns an Android phone into a full Linux desktop environment using Termux, T… | 61 | 3661 | active |
| Urbit Urbit is a personal server stack built from scratch, consisting of an operating system kernel (Arvo), a virtual machine runtime (Vere), and… | 95 | 3620 | active |