# OpenRC/openrc

The OpenRC init system

Repository: https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openrc
Language: C
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-02T20:30:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4890, "days_push": 31, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1896, forks 295 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:50.993887+00:00)

## What it is
OpenRC is a dependency-based init system for Unix-like operating systems that works alongside the system-provided /sbin/init program. It manages boot-time and runtime services with dependency resolution and is the default init system on Gentoo and Alpine Linux.

## Use cases
- manage system services with dependency ordering on Linux
- replace systemd with a lightweight init system
- set up service startup and shutdown scripts on Alpine or Gentoo
- hook OpenRC into BSD init or SysVInit
- control daemons with rc-service and rc-update

## When to choose
- you want a simple, dependency-based init system without systemd
- you run Gentoo, Alpine, or another distribution that uses OpenRC
- you need a portable init system that works on Linux and BSD

## When to avoid
- you want systemd features like socket activation, cgroups integration, or a full service manager
- you need a graphical service manager or modern boot tooling

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, configuration-management, deployment
- domain: operating-systems, self-hosted
- platform: bsd, c
- tags: init-system, service-management, sysvinit, freebsd, dependency-based-boot, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- OpenRC/openrc (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:50.993887+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 2026-08-30T03:12:49.493013+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:50.993887+00:00, sha 136b3adf710a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.