hovind / oasis

a small statically-linked linux system

oasis

oasis is a small linux system

It is suitable for a range of uses including server and desktop. oasis provides a solution for many common tasks:

• Display server (velox, wayland-based)
• Terminal (st)
• Program launcher (dmenu)
• Web browser (netsurf with custom frontend)
• Document viewer (mupdf)
• Media player (mpv)
• HTTP server (nginx)
• DNS server (nsd)
• BitTorrent client (transmission)

The entire system can be compiled in minutes, and uses up up only a couple hundred megabytes of disk space (despite being statically linked). It is almost entirely C-based, and only one optional component requires C++ (libutp for transmission).

Updating your system is as simple as

git -C /src/oasis pull
samu -C /src/oasis commit
doas git -C / merge oasis

For more information, see the wiki.

Principles

• Binaries should be linked statically. This is made possible by lightweight system components like musl libc, and a central source repository to keep track of system-wide dependencies.
• Software components should be built in a way that allows the user to easily customize and/or modify as needed.
• Sources can be referenced through a URL or git submodule, but not included directly in the oasis repository. This way, users only need to download the sources they are interested in.
• /etc directory should be simple enough for system administrators to understand in its entirety and customize appropriately.

Components

oasis uses software from a lot of different packages. The core system is built up from the following:

• musl (libc)
• suckless
  • sbase, ubase, sinit, sdhcp
• openbsd
  • pax, yacc, fmt, diff, patch, doas
• plan9port
  • rc, sam
• awk
• bzip2
• bc
• curl
• e2fsprogs
• git
• iproute2
• kbd
• libressl
• lua
• mandoc
• samurai (ninja-compatible build tool)
• openntpd
• openssh
• perp (process supervisor)
• pigz (gzip)
• tz
• util-linux (for fdisk)
• xz