# Redox OS

26 Hacker News commenters recommended Redox OS and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free Rust operating system praised as a memory-safe, cleanly designed alternative to Linux. Critics say it is still a hobby project with limited utility and hardware support.

## Why people recommend it

- Promising alternative to mainstream OSes (5 comments): "Then use Redox OS, or convince Torvalds to merge Asterinas' memory handling code into Linux." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50298927)) "interesting alternatives with good momentum (Redox and Genode in particular)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49053444)) "Torvalds needs to borrow Rust code from Asterinas (and maybe Redox) ASAP." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50296293))
- Good code and careful engineering (3 comments): "the code in the Redox system is generally good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45959678)) "Glad to see they are applying some rigor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320784)) "This is great work by the Redox team." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50320279))
- Better design principles than alternatives (2 comments): "which are built on better principles" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47300254)) "Redox would fare much better." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46954656))
- Original from-scratch OS design (2 comments): "You should check this - https://www.redox-os.org/ . There are some folks who wrote from scratch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47539703)) "I love projects like Redox that try to do their own thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45786456))

## What people warn about

- Remains a niche project (2 comments): "they will become even more of a niche project" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47329581)) "they remain confined to niche applications because none of them has been designed to be incorporated in a framework" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49056839))
- Missing hardware and multi-CPU support (2 comments): "but then got stuck on multi-cpu assembly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47325147)) "redox didn't even support usb devices" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46217536))
- Stance seen as technically irresponsible (2 comments): "I think this stance is ethically good, but technically irresponsible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320888)) "This feels like the newest form of OSS virtue signaling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320849))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows.md): 1287 recommend
- [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos.md): 1041 recommend
- [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux.md): 745 recommend
- [Haiku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/haiku-os.md): 115 recommend
- [NetBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netbsd.md): 100 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Redox OS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/redox-os/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).