# VxWorks

5 Hacker News commenters recommended VxWorks and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Long-used real-time OS praised for a slim footprint and reliability in embedded systems. Critics note its POSIX support is loose.

## Why people recommend it

- Slim footprint suits small systems (2 comments): "VxWorks has a really slim profile and thus this helps keep the size manageable to continue doing science experiments." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48485384)) "technically slimmer and more reliable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46405188))
- Consistent, repeatable, reliable behavior (2 comments): "Even back in the 1990's real software (e.g., I used VxWorks every day) was built for consistency, functionality, and repeatability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47647915)) "technically slimmer and more reliable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46405188))
- Long-standing choice for embedded projects (2 comments): "Even back in the 1990's real software (e.g., I used VxWorks every day) was built for consistency, functionality, and repeatability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47647915)) "You just required a much bigger SBC to run it, and that's why we used VxWorks in the first place." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46405523))

## What people warn about

- POSIX compatibility is loose (1 comments): ""posix inspired" at best - fds actually were pointers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47177400))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [QNX Neutrino RTOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qnx.md): 47 recommend
- [Zephyr RTOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zephyr-rtos.md): 14 recommend
- [FreeRTOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freertos.md): 9 recommend
- [Hubris RTOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hubris.md): 6 recommend
- [MicroPythonOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/micropythonos.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.windriver.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "VxWorks", https://hackerapproved.com/p/vxworks/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).