Google’s New Open Source OS ‘Fuchsia’ Hits GitHub

Google has planted the seeds of a new operating system on GitHub with the leading title Fuchsia: Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating SystemThe curious code drop which surfaced this weekend is void of any meaningful explainers or official announcements, leaving room for wide speculation on its intended use. Rumours include the unification of Chrome OS and Android, IoT device software or Googles OnHub router.

As the code continues to grow, a number of hints are given: The operating system does not use the Linux kernel which is a core for both Chrome OS and Android. Rather it is built on Magenta and LittleKernel, designed specifically for embedded systems for use in devices like smart watches. Magenta however, is far more capable than simple IoT devices and Google’s documentation confirms this:  “[Magenta] targets modern phones and modern personal computers” with “fast processors … non-trivial amounts of RAM.”

Though there has been no official announcement from Google, the developers listed on Fuchsia’s page have made comments via an IRC chatlog shared on Hacker News. “The decision was made to build it open source, so might as well start there from the beginning,” said Google Developer Brian Swetland. He added additional comments on Fuchsia, claiming it is “currently booting reasonably well on broadwell and skylake NUCs and the Acer Switch Alpha 12, though driver support is still a work in progress.”