Minix 3
Minix 3 is a small, Unix-like operating system. It is published under a BSD-3-Clause license and is a successor project to the earlier versions, Minix 1 and 2.
| Developer | Andrew S. Tanenbaum et al. |
|---|---|
| Written in | C, assembly language |
| OS family | Unix-like |
| Working state | Abandoned |
| Source model | Open source |
| Initial release | 24 October 2005 |
| Latest release | 3.3.0 / September 16, 2014 |
| Latest preview | 3.4.0 rc6 / May 9, 2017 |
| Repository | |
| Marketing target | Embedded systems, education |
| Available in | English |
| Platforms | IA-32, ARM |
| Kernel type | Microkernel |
| Userland | Minix, NetBSD |
| Default user interface | ash |
| License | 2005: BSD-3-Clause Original: BSD-3-Clause |
| Preceded by | Minix 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 |
| Official website | www |
The project's main goal is for the system to be fault-tolerant by detecting and repairing its faults on the fly, with no user intervention. The main uses of the system are envisaged to be embedded systems and education.
As of 2017, Minix 3 supports IA-32 and ARM architecture processors. It can also run on emulators or virtual machines, such as Bochs, VMware Workstation, Microsoft Virtual PC, Oracle VirtualBox, and QEMU. A port to PowerPC architecture is in development. The distribution comes on a live CD and does not support live USB installation. The project has been dormant since 2018, and the latest release is 3.4.0 rc6 from 2017, although the Minix 3 discussion group is still active.
Minix 3 is believed to have inspired the Intel Management Engine (ME) OS found in Intel's Platform Controller Hub, starting with the introduction of ME 11, which is used with Skylake and Kaby Lake processors. It was debated that Minix could have been the most widely used OS on x86/AMD64 processors, with more installations than Microsoft Windows, Linux, or macOS, because of its use in the Intel ME.