MikrOS Linux is the Linux kernel/backend target of MikrOS for the oldest and smallest machines that can still run a maintainable Linux system.
MikrOS is one operating-system/distribution architecture across supported kernels. Linux and ELKS are backend targets, not separate MikrOS products. The Linux target follows MikrOS' shared package, build, configuration and administration model while using Linux-native components where appropriate.
It takes inspiration from Alpine Linux's minimalism and simplicity, with Debian-style pragmatism toward portability and architecture support.
- Support the lowest practical Linux platform baseline per architecture.
- Prefer small, understandable components and minimal dependencies.
- Keep the system useful, not merely bootable.
- Share MikrOS package metadata, repository concepts, build conventions, configuration model and administration UX with other MikrOS backends where practical.
- Make cross-compilation and emulator-first qualification first-class workflows.
- Avoid unnecessary daemons and runtime complexity.
- Keep architecture-specific compromises explicit and documented.
MikrOS Linux supports both Linux execution models where upstream support and the target architecture make them practical:
- Linux/MMU — the normal full Linux profile for MMU-capable systems.
- Linux/no-MMU (uClinux) — the no-MMU Linux profile for smaller embedded-class systems. uClinux is treated as an execution/profile name, not as a separate MikrOS product or repository.
Both profiles use the same MikrOS Linux repository and should share package metadata, build conventions, filesystem policy, configuration and administration semantics wherever practical.
M0 investigates m68k, 32-bit ARM, 32-bit x86, 32-bit PowerPC, RISC-V 32-bit and RISC-V 64-bit. No CPU generation is supported until it passes MikrOS qualification.
For m68k, M0 explicitly investigates both classic MMU-capable m68k and ColdFire V2/no-MMU, with an MCF5208-class target as the initial ColdFire/uClinux reference. Later MMU-capable ColdFire targets may be qualified as Linux/MMU targets.
For RISC-V, riscv32 and riscv64 are explicit Linux/MMU architecture targets. QEMU is the initial reference and CI platform so the architecture contract can be qualified independently of a particular development board. Physical RISC-V reference hardware will be selected later based on maintainability, upstream support and MikrOS' minimum-platform goals.
MikrOS Linux and MikrOS ELKS are two kernel/backend targets of the same MikrOS architecture.
They should share, where practical:
- package recipe and repository concepts,
- package naming and metadata,
- host-side build tooling,
- system configuration conventions,
- service-management concepts,
- release/version policy,
- user-facing administration conventions.
They do not require identical binaries, libc, init implementations or command implementations. Backend-specific components are expected whenever they are needed for maintainability or platform constraints.
Minimum practical platform, small by default, upstream first, emulator first, simple administration, and shared MikrOS semantics without forcing binary-level compatibility between backends.
M0 determines the true minimum supported platform for each initial architecture. See ROADMAP.md and docs/targets.md.
Software authored specifically for MikrOS is intended to use the MIT License unless an imported component requires its upstream license. Third-party components retain their respective licenses.