Lambda Kernel

Lambda OS is a hobby operating system developed by Peter Farley. Lambda OS is designed to be portable to multiple systems, and currently supports x86-based PCs, ARMv7 (Cortex-A9) support is in progress, and x86_64 and RISCV (RV64I) support is planned.

NOTE: This repository only contains the kernel portion of Lambda OS. For a usable implementation of the kernel, see the lambda-os repository.

Platform support:

• x86
  • x86 PC (platform with the most support)
• ARMv7
  • Cortex-A9
    • Versatile Express A9 (early stages; partially dropped)
  • Cortex-A53
    • Broadcom BCM2836/7 (Raspberry Pi) (early stages)

Building

To be able to build the Lambda kernel, you need the following tools:

• gcc
  • If using gcc, you must use a cross-compiler. There is a convenience script for building one: scripts/build-cross-compiler.sh
  • TODO: reintroduce clang support
• make
• eu-readelf (elfutils)
• menuconfig or similar, for easy configuration
  • Not required, .config file can be modified by hand
  • If no .config file is present, .defconfig is used instead
  • For a standalone Kconfig-compatible menuconfig, see Kconfiglib

To build kernel:

• (If fisrt time) Clone the lambda-kern code repository
• (If not first time) Run git pull
• If you wish to make changes to the configuration: menuconfig (or similar)
  • Default config targets x86
• Make: make CROSS_COMPILE=<gcc prefix>
  • CROSS_COMPILE is not necessary when using Clang
    • Clang can be enabled via CONFIG_BUILD_USE_CLANG in the config
    • Using clang with ARM is currently not fully supported
  • To speed up compilation, add -j<threads> argument to the make command