NodeOS/NodeOS
NodeOS
NodeOS is an operating system that boots a Linux kernel with Node.js running as the primary userspace, replacing traditional shell utilities with JavaScript execution. Every npm package is treated as a native system command, making hundreds of thousands of packages directly executable at the OS level.
The operating system is built inside Docker containers using a reproducible pipeline that generates ext2 filesystem images, with the ability to conditionally disable KVM for systems without hardware virtualization. It mounts a persistent usersfs partition for user home directories, preserving changes across reboots and isolating user environments. Platform-specific boot layers support deployment across real hardware, cloud providers, virtual machines, and container platforms.
The build process includes dependency resolution for tools like genext2fs and C compilers, automatic cleanup of stale artifacts from interrupted builds, and the ability to run package manager updates to resolve runtime errors. Pre-built ISO and disk images can be written to media for booting with persistent storage, and officially published Docker images are available for containerized testing and deployment.
Features
- JavaScript-Bootable Operating Systems - Boots a Linux kernel with Node.js as the primary userspace, replacing traditional shell utilities with JavaScript execution.
- Node.js Userspace Runtimes - Boots a Linux kernel with Node.js as the primary userspace, replacing traditional shell utilities.
- npm Package System Commands - Maps every npm package to a native OS command, enabling direct execution as system-level programs.
- npm Packages as System Commands - Maps every npm package to a native OS command, enabling direct execution of installed packages as system-level programs.
