Operating Systems

Submitted by jasonmcmunn on Wed, 11/26/2008 - 21:33

General Information

	License	Kernel type	Kernel programming language	Kernel Thread support	OS family:	Oldest non-EOL version	Forks
Linux	GPL/LGPL	Monolithic with modules	C	1:1	Unix-like	2.4	µClinux
FreeBSD	BSD (Typically, GPL/LGPL software included)	Monolithic with modules	C	1:1	BSD, Unix-like	6.3	DragonFly BSD
OpenBSD	BSD	Monolithic with modules	C	1:1	BSD, Unix-like	4.2	MirOS
NetBSD	BSD	Monolithic with modules	C	1:1, M:N	BSD, Unix-like	4	OpenBSD
DragonFly BSD	BSD	Hybrid	C		BSD, Unix-like	No
OpenSolaris	CDDL	Monolithic with modules	C	1:1, M:N	Unix	No
AuroraUX	BSD/CDDL	Monolithic with modules	C, Ada	1:1, M:N	Unix	No
Darwin OpenDarwin PureDarwin	APSL	Hybrid	C, C++	1:1	BSD, Unix, Unix-like, Mac OS X	No
Minix	BSD	Microkernel	C		Unix-like	No
FreeDOS	GPL	Monolithic	C		MSDOS, PCDOS	1.0
Haiku	MIT	Hybrid	C, C++		BeOS	No
House	BSD		Haskell		own/original	No
KolibriOS	GPL	Monolithic	ASM		own/original	No
MenuetOS	Menuet 64	Monolithic	ASM		own/original	No	KolibriOS
GNU Mach GNU Hurd	GPL	Microkernel			Unix-like	No
ReactOS	GPL/LGPL	Hybrid	C, C++		Windows-like	No
L4 Fiasco Pistachio	GPL	Microkernel	C++		L4	No
Plan 9	LPL	Monolithic	C	1:1, 1:M Cothread style.	own, unix inspired	No	Inferno, Plan B
AROS	APL	Microkernel	C		AmigaOS	No
Syllable	GPL	Monolithic with modules	C, C++	1:1	Unix-like, BeOS, AmigaOS, POSIX	No
Inferno	GPL/LGPL/MIT		C		Plan 9	No	OzInferno
FreeRTOS	modified GPL	RTOS	C		RTOS	No
eCos	modified GPL/eCos	RTOS	C, C++		RTOS	No
pico]OS	BSD	RTOS	C		RTOS	No
RTEMS	modified GPL, BSD	RTOS	C and ASM with native support for other languages including C++ and Ada	POSIX, RTEID/ORKID, uITRON	RTOS	4.7.1
HelenOS	BSD	Microkernel	C	M:N	own/original	No
E/OS	GPLv2	Monolithic	ASM, C	1:1	BeOS, Unix-like	No
	License	Kernel type	Kernel programming language	Kernel Thread support	OS family:	Oldest non-EOL version	Forks

Supported architectures

	x86 / i386 / IA-32	x86 SMP	Xen	IA-64	x86-64	PowerPC	PowerPC SMP	SPARC32	SPARC SMP	Alpha	MIPS	ARM	XScale	M68k	PA-RISC	other	hosted mode
Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	FR-V, Cell, ETRAX CRIS, M32R, Xtensa, h8, s390, SuperH	UML, coLinux, MkLinux, Itanium Linux-on-Linux, wombat
FreeBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	PC98
OpenBSD	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SuperH, VAX, m88k
NetBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SuperH, ns32k, VAX
DragonFly BSD	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No		vkernel
OpenSolaris	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
AuroraUX	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Darwin OpenDarwin	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No		L4/Darwin
Minix	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
FreeDOS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Haiku	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KolibriOS	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MenuetOS	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
GNU Mach GNU Hurd	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
ReactOS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
L4 Pistachio	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Plan 9	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	See and	lguest, vx32
AROS	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No		i386-linux, i386-freebsd
Syllable	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Inferno	Yes	?	No	No	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	AMD Am29000, Texas Instruments OMAP	Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Plan 9, Mac OS X, Solaris, Irix, Unixware, HP-UX, Internet Explorer
FreeRTOS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	AVR, PIC, MSP430, HCS12, 8052, MicroBlaze, Cortex-M3, H8S
eCos	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	CalmRISC, ColdFire, FR-V, h8, Matsushita AM3x, Nios II, NEC V8xx, SuperH	Microsoft Windows, Linux
pico]OS	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	6502, AVR	80x86 DOS, 80x86 WIN32
RTEMS	Yes	No	Xen	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Blackfin, Nios II, Coldfire, Texas Instruments C3x/C4x, SuperH, H8S	Linux, Solaris, Cygwin, FreeBSD plus multiple CPU simulators
HelenOS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
E/OS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
	x86 / i386 / IA-32	x86 SMP	Xen	IA-64	x86-64	PowerPC	PowerPC SMP	SPARC32	SPARC SMP	Alpha	MIPS	ARM	XScale	M68k	PA-RISC	other	hosted mode

Supported Hardware

	ATA	SATA	SCSI	USB 2.0	USB 1.1	FireWire	PCMCIA/PC card	AGP	Nvidia official driver IA32	Nvidia official driver IA64	Nvidia official driver AMD64	ATI official driver x86	ATI official driver x86_64	Ati r200 free software driver	Ati r300 free software driver	Nvidia free software driver	Audio	TV tuner, video editing or webcam
Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes,nv(2d only),nouveau(3d with mesa)	OSS, ALSA	V4L,V4L2
FreeBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	2d only	2d only	Yes	Yes
NetBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes	Yes
DragonFly BSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				No	No	No	No	No				Yes
OpenSolaris	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No				Yes
AuroraUX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No				Yes
Darwin and OpenDarwin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				No	No	No	No	No
Minix									No	No	No	No	No
FreeDOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Haiku	Yes				Yes			Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes
KolibriOS	Yes	Yes	No	No	No		No	No	No	No	No	No	No				Yes	No
MenuetOS	Yes	No	No	No	No		No	No	No	No	No	No	No					No
GNU Mach and GNU Hurd	Yes	No		No	No	No			No	No	No	No	No				No
ReactOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes
L4, Fiasco and Pistachio									No	No	No	No	No
Plan 9	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes	Yes
AROS	Yes							Yes	No	No	No	own	No			2D only
Syllable	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes			Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes
Inferno	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No				Yes
FreeRTOS									No	No	No	No	No
eCos	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes				No	No	No	No	No
pico]OS									No	No	No	No	No
RTEMS	Yes						Yes		No	No	No	No	No
HelenOS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
E/OS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No				Yes	Yes
			No	No
	ATA	SATA	SCSI	USB 2.0	USB 1.1	FireWire	PCMCIA/PC card	AGP	Nvidia official driver IA32	Nvidia official driver IA64	Nvidia official driver AMD64	ATI official driver x86	ATI official driver x86_64	Ati r200 free software driver	Ati r300 free software driver	Nvidia free software driver	Audio	TV tuner, video editing or webcam

Network Support

	Networking supported	NE2000/RTL8029	RTL8139	Gigabit Ethernet	10-gigabit Ethernet	Wireless LAN	Bluetooth	IrDA
Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
FreeBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
NetBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DragonFly BSD	Yes			Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenSolaris	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
AuroraUX	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Darwin OpenDarwin	Yes
Minix	Yes		Yes
FreeDOS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Haiku	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes
KolibriOS	Yes	Yes	Yes				No	Yes
MenuetOS	Yes	Yes					No	No
GNU Mach GNU Hurd
ReactOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
L4 Fiasco Pistachio
Plan 9	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
AROS	Yes	Yes
Syllable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inferno	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
FreeRTOS
eCos	Yes			Yes			Yes
pico]OS
RTEMS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
HelenOS	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
E/OS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Networking supported	NE2000/RTL8029	RTL8139	Gigabit Ethernet	10-gigabit Ethernet	Wireless LAN	Bluetooth	IrDA

Network Technologies

	Firewall	TCP/IP	IPv6	IPX	PPP	PPPoE	DHCP	bridge	TUN/TAP	ssh	OpenVPN
Linux	netfilter/iptables	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
FreeBSD	IPFW2, IPFilter, PF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenBSD	PF	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NetBSD	IPFilter, PF	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DragonFly BSD	IPFW2, IPFilter, PF	Yes	Yes				Yes			Yes
OpenSolaris	IPFilter	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
AuroraUX	IPFilter	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Darwin OpenDarwin	IPFW	Yes	Yes				Yes			Yes
Minix		Yes								Yes
FreeDOS		Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes			Yes
Haiku	None	Yes
KolibriOS	None	Yes		No	Yes	No	Yes
MenuetOS	None	Yes		No	No	No
GNU Mach GNU Hurd
ReactOS
L4 Fiasco Pistachio
Plan 9	ipmux	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
AROS		Yes
Syllable		Yes			Yes	Yes	Yes			Yes
Inferno	ipmux	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
FreeRTOS
eCos		Yes	Yes		Yes		Yes			Yes
pico]OS
RTEMS		Yes			Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
HelenOS		Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
E/OS		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Firewall	TCP/IP	IPv6	IPX	PPP	PPPoE	DHCP	bridge	TUN/TAP	ssh	OpenVPN

Supported file systems

	FAT16 / dosfs, FAT32 / vfat	NTFS	Ext2	Ext3	XFS	ReiserFS	UFS	UFS2	HFS	HFS+	Minixfs	BFS	ISO 9660	UDF	NFS	SMBFS	RAM disk / tmpfs	ZFS	Other special file systems
Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	9P, FUSE, sysfs, configfs, Reiser4, JFS, Btrfs, UnionFS, Ext4
FreeBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	FUSE, nullfs, UnionFS
OpenBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	AFS
NetBSD	Yes	Yes	Yes				Yes	Yes		Yes			Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	PUFFS, LFS, EFS
DragonFly BSD	Yes	Yes	Yes				Yes						Yes		Yes			No	nullfs
OpenSolaris	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes		No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	CIFS (native), QFS
AuroraUX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes		No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	CIFS (native), QFS
Darwin OpenDarwin	Yes	Yes					Yes		Yes	Yes			Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minix	Yes	No									Yes	No
FreeDOS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No				No	No	Yes				Yes
Haiku	Yes	Yes										Yes
KolibriOS	Yes	Yes											Yes				Yes
MenuetOS	Yes
GNU Mach GNU Hurd	Yes		Yes				Yes						Yes		Yes		Yes
ReactOS	Yes		Yes	No	No	No	No				No	No
L4 Fiasco Pistachio	Yes	No
Plan 9	Yes		Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		Fossil, Venti, most system services
AROS	Yes																Yes		SFS, AFFS
Syllable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes								Yes	Yes				Yes		AFS
Inferno	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes		kfs, most system services
FreeRTOS
eCos	Yes		Yes														Yes		MMFS, ROMfs, JFFS2, YAFFS
RTEMS	Yes														Yes		Yes		TarFS, TFTP FS, IMFS, miniIMFS
HelenOS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	devfs
E/OS	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		No
	FAT16 / dosfs, FAT32 / vfat	NTFS	Ext2	Ext3	XFS	ReiserFS	UFS	UFS2	HFS	HFS+	Minixfs	BFS	ISO 9660	UDF	NFS	SMBFS	RAM disk / tmpfs	ZFS	Other special file systems

Supported file system features

	RAID	quota	Resource access control	encryption	other special file system features
Linux	Yes	Yes	Unix, ACL, MAC	Yes	LVM, EVMS
FreeBSD	Yes	Yes	Unix, ACL, MAC	Yes	GEOM, snapshots, background fsck, user-mountable file systems
OpenBSD	Yes	Yes	Unix	Yes
NetBSD	Yes	Yes	Unix, Veriexec	Yes
DragonFly BSD		Yes
OpenSolaris	Yes	Yes	Unix, ACL, MAC		Solaris Volume Manager, ZFS, snapshots, transparent data repair
AuroraUX	Yes	Yes	Unix, ACL, MAC		Solaris Volume Manager, ZFS, snapshots, transparent data repair
Darwin OpenDarwin		Yes	Unix, ACL	Yes
Minix			Unix
FreeDOS			No
KolibriOS			No
MenuetOS			No
GNU Mach GNU Hurd			Unix
ReactOS			No
L4 Fiasco Pistachio
Plan 9	No	No	Unix-like, no root	No	snapshots, venti archival storage, per-process namespace, user-mountable file systems
AROS
Syllable			Unix		64-bit, journaling, extended file attributes
Inferno	No	No	Unix-like, no root	No	per-process namespace, user-mountable file systems
FreeRTOS
eCos
pico]OS
RTEMS
HelenOS	No	No	No	No	No
E/OS	Yes	Yes	Unix	Yes	No
	RAID	quota	Resource access control	encryption	other special file system features

Security features

Operating system	Mandatory access control	Software executable space protection	Operating system-level virtualization	Virtualisation	Userspace protection	Others
Linux	SELinux, AppArmor	Exec Shield , PaX	Chroot, namespace and cgroups, Linux-VServer, OpenVZ, FreeVPS	KVM	IPFilter, IPTables	grsecurity , RSBAC
FreeBSD	SeBSD , TrustedBSD	ProPolice/SSP	jail		IPFW, PF
Darwin	SEDarwin, TrustedBSD		jail		IPFW
OpenBSD		W^X	sysjail		PF, IPF
OpenSolaris	TrustedBSD		Solaris Containers		IPF
AuroraUX	TrustedBSD		Solaris Containers		IPF
Plan 9	No	No	per-process namespaces
Inferno	No	No	per-process namespaces

(From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_operating_systems)

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