# LemonOSProject/LemonOS

The Lemon Operating System

Repository: https://github.com/LemonOSProject/LemonOS
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/lemonos
Homepage: https://lemonos.org
Language: C++
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: os, cpp, c, operating-system, kernel, osdev, lemon
Last push: 2024-11-23T05:32:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2670, "days_push": 648, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1299, forks 60 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:17.406849+00:00)

## What it is
LemonOS is a hobbyist UNIX-like 64-bit operating system for x86_64 written in C++, featuring its own modular kernel with SMP and networking, a window server/compositor (LemonWM), and a set of userspace applications. It includes an Ext2 filesystem, IDE/AHCI/NVMe drivers, dynamic linking via mlibc, and ports such as Python 3, LLVM/Clang, and DOOM.

## Use cases
- run a small unix-like desktop OS in QEMU
- learn operating system development from a real codebase
- experiment with a from-scratch C++ kernel
- study how a window server and compositor work
- test a hobby OS on x86_64 hardware
- explore osdev with SMP and networking support

## When to choose
- You want a readable, from-scratch hobby OS codebase for learning or contributing to osdev
- You want to boot a lightweight UNIX-like GUI operating system in QEMU/KVM or on supported x86_64 hardware
- You want a playground for experimenting with kernels, drivers, or window server internals

## When to avoid
- You need a production-grade, secure operating system for daily use, servers, or mission-critical workloads
- You need broad hardware support, a large package ecosystem, or long-term support
- You need Linux binary compatibility or POSIX certification

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: gui, networking, file-system, http-client
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: cpp, c
- tags: operating-system, osdev, kernel, unix-like, window-server, compositor, x86-64, qemu, ext2, smp, device-drivers, hobby-os, desktop

## Member repositories
- LemonOSProject/LemonOS (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:17.406849+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 2026-08-30T04:53:24.353979+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/LemonOSProject/LemonOS (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:17.406849+00:00, sha 90ca3424dc15)
  - homepage: https://lemonos.org (fetched 2026-08-29T12:09:53.276107+00:00, sha 173ee3ff0bde)
  - site_page: https://lemonos.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T12:09:53.285056+00:00, sha b7e62d9166b6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.