# mirror/busybox

BusyBox mirror

Repository: https://github.com/mirror/busybox
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/busybox
Homepage: https://www.busybox.net/
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2024-09-25T01:37:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4985, "days_push": 708, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2159, forks 748 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:19.916722+00:00)

## What it is
BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities (ls, sed, grep, tar, sh, etc.) into a single small, highly configurable executable. It is the standard userland for embedded Linux systems, rescue disks, and minimal environments where size and memory footprint matter.

## Use cases
- build a minimal linux userland for an embedded device
- create a rescue disk or initramfs with basic shell utilities
- reduce binary size in a docker container by replacing coreutils
- provide a posix shell environment on a resource-constrained system
- customize which unix commands are included at compile time
- boot a thin client or live-cd system with a small footprint

## When to choose
- you need a tiny, single-binary replacement for standard unix utilities
- you are building embedded linux firmware or an initramfs
- binary size and runtime memory usage are critical constraints
- you want a modular userland where commands can be included or excluded at build time

## When to avoid
- you need the full feature set of GNU coreutils and related tools
- you require complete POSIX/Single Unix Specification compliance
- you are on a system with no resource constraints where full utilities are already available

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, file-system, developer-tools, embedded
- domain: embedded-systems, operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: embedded, cross-platform, c
- tags: unix-utilities, single-binary, embedded-linux, posix-environment, size-optimized, initramfs, rescue-disk, command-line, linux

## Member repositories
- mirror/busybox (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:19.916722+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:50:20.602396+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mirror/busybox (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:19.916722+00:00, sha ed3196f66854)
  - homepage: https://www.busybox.net/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:30:19.794642+00:00, sha 144887597ccc)
  - site_page: https://www.busybox.net/about.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:30:19.803715+00:00, sha 2c48fbce7ee1)
  - site_page: https://www.busybox.net/FAQ.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:30:19.806317+00:00, sha f4a2d7967346)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.