Counterexamples:
Optimization: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/24/files
Improvement in build system: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/33
Bugfix in build system: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/34/files
Making code more standard compliant (assigning a function pointer to a void pointer is undefined behavior): https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/43
Enable building on FreeBSD: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/50
Bugfix: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/51/files
Improvement in console system: https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pull/62/files
---
Also concerning your "homework solutions" argument: The fact that these PRs are not closed is also a strong point for my argument.
In Xv6, a simple Unix-like teaching operating systemmit-pdos
xv6-public
C2015–2025
mit-pdos / xv6-public
xv6-public
xv6 OS
24Distinct people
33Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
9.7KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
xv6 OS
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
Some good resources to start with: - OSDev.org (https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page) is a great starting point for writing an operating system - Three Easy Pieces…
linguae used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 9:01:12 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year33 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2015-11-16 04:16:41 UTC to 2025-03-22 06:00:35 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
NOTE: we have stopped maintaining the x86 version of xv6, and switched
our efforts to the RISC-V version
(https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-riscv.git)
xv6 is a re-implementation of Dennis Ritchie's and Ken Thompson's Unix
Version 6 (v6). xv6 loosely follows the structure and style of v6,
but is implemented for a modern x86-based multiprocessor using ANSI C.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xv6 is inspired by John Lions's Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition (Peer
to Peer Communications; ISBN: 1-57398-013-7; 1st edition (June 14,
2000)). See also https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.828/, which
provides pointers to on-line resources for v6.
xv6 borrows code from the following sources:
JOS (asm.h, elf.h, mmu.h, bootasm.S, ide.c, console.c, and others)
Plan 9 (entryother.S, mp.h, mp.c, lapic.c)
FreeBSD (ioapic.c)
NetBSD (console.c)
The following people have made contributions: Russ Cox (context switching,
locking), Cliff Frey (MP), Xiao Yu (MP), Nickolai Zeldovich, and Austin
Clements.
We are also grateful for the bug reports and patches contributed by Silas
Boyd-Wickizer, Anton Burtsev, Cody Cutler, Mike CAT, Tej Chajed, eyalz800,
Nelson Elhage, Saar Ettinger, Alice Ferrazzi, Nathaniel Filardo, Peter
Froehlich, Yakir Goaron,Shivam Handa, Bryan Henry, Jim Huang, Alexander
Kapshuk, Anders Kaseorg, kehao95, Wolfgang Keller, Eddie Kohler, Austin
Liew, Imbar Marinescu, Yandong Mao, Matan Shabtay, Hitoshi Mitake, Carmi
Merimovich, Mark Morrissey, mtasm, Joel Nider, Greg Price, Ayan Shafqat,
Eldar Sehayek, Yongming Shen, Cam Tenny, tyfkda, Rafael Ubal, Warren
Toomey, Stephen Tu, Pablo Ventura, Xi Wang, Keiichi Watanabe, Nicolas
Wolovick, wxdao, Grant Wu, Jindong Zhang, Icenowy Zheng, and Zou Chang Wei.
The code in the files that constitute xv6 is
Copyright 2006-2018 Frans Kaashoek, Robert Morris, and Russ Cox.
ERROR REPORTS
We don't process error reports (see note on top of this file).
BUILDING AND RUNNING XV6
To build xv6 on an x86 ELF machine (like Linux or FreeBSD), run
"make". On non-x86 or non-ELF machines (like OS X, even on x86), you
will need to install a cross-compiler gcc suite capable of producing
x86 ELF binaries (see https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.828/).
Then run "make TOOLPREFIX=i386-jos-elf-". Now install the QEMU PC
simulator and run "make qemu".
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
4 sourcesFor https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/commit/6389d9d4103eae...
Seems fine. It’s hardly worth noting. May as well write “Minor” and use your time more efficiently.
In Xv6, a simple Unix-like teaching operating systemLooking at the github repo [1] I am immediately underwhelmed by the commit messages. "nothing much," "nits," "nit". Really?
[1] https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public
In Xv6, a simple Unix-like teaching operating systemWhat a pity that lots of people seem to want to create (often small) enhancements to xv6
> https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-public/pulls
but the authors (probably because of lack of time and/or academic obligations) seem to ignore them.
In Xv6, a simple Unix-like teaching operating system