Project Summary
MINIX 3 is a new open-source operating system designed to be highly reliable, flexible, and secure. It is loosely based somewhat on previous versions of MINIX, but is fundamentally different in many key ways. MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability.
This new OS is extremely small, with the part that runs in kernel mode under 4000 lines of executable code. The parts that run in user mode are divided into small modules, well insulated from one another. For example, each device driver runs as a separate user-mode process so a bug in a driver (by far the biggest source of bugs in any OS), cannot bring down the entire OS.
In a Nutshell, MINIX 3...
- ...
- ...
- ...
-
...
took an estimated 2,303 years of effort (COCOMO model)
starting with its first commit in April, 2005
ending with its most recent commit about 8 years ago
Quick Reference
Project Security
Vulnerabilities per Version ( last 10 releases )
There are no reported vulnerabilities
Project Vulnerability Report
Security Confidence Index
Vulnerability Exposure Index
Did You Know...
-
...
in 2016, 47% of companies did not have formal process in place to track OS code
-
...
learn about Open Hub updates and features on the Open Hub blog
-
...
use of OSS increased in 65% of companies in 2016
-
...
search using multiple tags to find exactly what you need
30 Day SummaryOct 14 2026 — Nov 13 2026
|
12 Month SummaryNov 13 2025 — Nov 13 2026
|
