An open, AI-native operating system for every screen that is built on Linux 7.1 with Rust-first architecture. Beyond Android. Beyond mobile.
ZethraOS is a mobile operating system built from scratch on the Linux kernel. It is:
- Legal — zero AOSP code, clean-room design, Apache 2.0 + GPL-2
- Open source — everything except signing keys is public
- AI-native — the ZethraAI daemon autonomously patches bugs, fixes CVEs, and ships OTA updates with minimal human intervention
- Privacy-first — no Google Play Services, no mandatory telemetry, on-device AI inference
- Performance-first — Rust userspace, Wayland compositor, sub-2s cold boot target
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ZethraAI Daemon │ ← Self-healing brain
│ crash analysis · patch gen · auto-release │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ZethraShell (UI) │ ← Wayland compositor (Rust/Smithay)
│ compositor · toolkit · launcher │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ System Services │ ← All written in Rust
│ zethrad (init) · telephony · network │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) │ ← Modular, Treble-inspired
│ camera · sensors · display · modem │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Linux Kernel 7.1 │ ← GPL-2, upstream base + reviewed patches
│ ARM64 · eBPF · cgroups v2 · io_uring │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The core differentiator of ZethraOS is the zethra-ai-daemon:
- Monitor — watches
/var/log/zethra/crashes/and CVE feeds - Analyze — sends crash data + stack traces to a configured AI provider (cloud or local) for root cause analysis
- Patch — the provider generates a unified diff patch + regression tests
- Test — CI boots a QEMU image with the patch and runs test suite
- Release — if confidence ≥ 0.92 and risk ≤ Medium, auto-merges and triggers OTA
Human maintainers receive a Slack notification but are not required to act.
zethraos/
├── kernel/ # Kernel defconfig, patches, modules
├── hal/ # Hardware abstraction layer
├── services/
│ ├── zethrad/ # PID 1 init & service manager (Rust)
│ ├── telephony/ # Phone / SMS stack
│ ├── network/ # Wi-Fi, BT, cellular data
│ └── sensors/ # Sensor HAL bridge
├── shell/
│ ├── compositor/ # Wayland compositor (Smithay)
│ ├── toolkit/ # UI toolkit
│ └── launcher/ # Home screen
├── ai/
│ ├── daemon/ # ZethraAI self-healing daemon
│ ├── analyzer/ # Issue classification
│ ├── patcher/ # Patch generation helpers
│ └── release-bot/ # OTA release automation
├── apps/ # First-party apps (dialer, messages, settings)
├── build/
│ ├── scripts/ # ci.yml, build_ota.sh, publish_ota.sh
│ └── configs/ # Unit files, default configs
├── tools/
│ └── ci/ # check_kernel_config.py, etc.
└── docs/ # Architecture, contributing, legal
# Ubuntu 24.04 recommended
sudo apt-get install -y \
gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu bc libssl-dev flex bison \
qemu-system-aarch64 python3 git
# Rust (stable + ARM64 cross target)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu# Cross-compile all Rust crates for ARM64
cargo build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
# Build kernel (downloads Linux 7.1 source)
bash build/scripts/build_kernel.sh
# Boot in QEMU for testing
bash build/scripts/qemu_boot.sh# Option A: local-first edge mode (no cloud key)
export ZETHRA_AI_PROVIDER=ollama
# optional: export OLLAMA_HOST=localhost:11434
# Option B: cloud-assisted mode (auto-detects provider from key)
# export GROQ_API_KEY=...
# export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=...
# export OPENAI_API_KEY=...
# export GOOGLE_API_KEY=...
# export XAI_API_KEY=...
# export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...
cargo run --bin zethra-ai-daemonZethraOS is built to be fully legally clean:
| Component | License | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linux kernel | GPL-2.0 | Unmodified upstream; our modules are GPL-2 |
| Userspace (Rust) | Apache-2.0 | All original code |
| Smithay (compositor) | MIT | Pure Rust Wayland lib |
| Mesa (GPU) | MIT | Open GPU drivers |
| BlueZ (BT) | GPL-2.0 | Standard Linux BT stack |
No AOSP code is used. The design is clean-room. We recommend joining the Open Invention Network for patent protection once the project reaches v1.0.
| Phase | Timeline | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–6 months | Bootable QEMU image, zethrad, ZethraAI scaffold, CI |
| 2 | 6–12 months | Phone/SMS, Wi-Fi/BT, app sandbox, OTA system |
| 3 | 12–18 months | ZethraAI live on device, auto-patch + auto-release |
| 4 | 18–24 months | Reference device port, community launch, v1.0 stable |
See docs/CONTRIBUTING.md. All contributions require:
- Apache-2.0 or GPL-2 compatible license
Signed-off-byline (DCO)- Tests for any new functionality
- Userspace: Apache-2.0
- Kernel modules: GPL-2.0
- Website: https://zethraos.com
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/zethraos
- Email: help@zethraos.com