--- title: Rocky Linux Creator Built a New "Not Linux" Kernel in 11... description: Gregory Kurtzer, creator of CentOS and Rocky Linux, built a new operating system kernel called Ginux and didn't write most of the code himself. Ginux is a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Rocky Linux Creator Built a New "Not Linux" Kernel in 11 Days Using AI | daily.dev og:description: Gregory Kurtzer, creator of CentOS and Rocky Linux, built a new operating system kernel called Ginux and didn't write most of the code himself. Ginux is a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/aq9Px4yay.png og:image:alt: Rocky Linux Creator Built a New "Not Linux" Kernel in 11 Days Using AI og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Rocky Linux Creator Built a New "Not Linux" Kernel in 11 Days Using AI **[It's Foss](https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss)** · 4 min read · 1 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary Gregory Kurtzer, creator of CentOS and Rocky Linux, built a new operating system kernel called Ginux and didn't write most of the code himself. Ginux is a Rust-first, independent x86-64 kernel, not a Linux fork, but it implements the Linux ABI so existing Linux binaries run unmodified. An OpenAI Codex agent running GPT-5.6 Sol worked for 11 days, producing about 139,000 retained lines of code across more than 1,000 commits. The kernel boots Rocky Linux 10 all the way to systemd's multi-user.target, but only inside QEMU, with no real hardware, GPU, or NVMe support and no security audit. Kurtzer calls the method Human-Directed Agentic Engineering, where he sets architecture and milestones while the AI handles implementation. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is Ginux and is it a Linux kernel fork? Ginux is an independent, Rust-first x86-64 kernel built from scratch, not a fork of Linux. It implements the Linux ABI so existing Linux binaries run unmodified, and it boots Rocky Linux 10 all the way to systemd's multi-user.target inside a QEMU virtual machine, though it currently lacks real hardware, GPU, or NVMe support. _developers exploring AI-built systems software can track emerging projects like this one on daily.dev._ ### How was the Ginux kernel developed using AI? Gregory Kurtzer used one persistent OpenAI Codex task running GPT-5.6 Sol for 11 days to write the kernel, producing about 139,000 retained lines of implementation and test code across more than 1,000 commits. He calls this approach Human-Directed Agentic Engineering, where the human sets architecture, constraints, and milestones while the agent writes, boots, tests, and revises the code. _teams weighing agentic coding workflows can follow real-world case studies like this on daily.dev._ ### Who created Rocky Linux and CentOS? Gregory Kurtzer created CentOS, and after Red Hat changed CentOS's direction, he started Rocky Linux as a community replacement. He also co-founded CIQ, a company providing enterprise support around Rocky Linux. _developers tracking the people and projects shaping Linux distros can follow updates on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@notalizard\_really** · 2 upvotes > I wouldn't use this. OS development is serious work and cannot be entrusted to AI. **@justbrowsing** · 0 upvotes > >no security audit > > Critical, Blocker ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The New Linux Kernel AI Bot Uncovering Bugs Is A Local LLM On Framework Desktop \+ AMD Ryzen AI Max](https://daily.dev/posts/the-new-linux-kernel-ai-bot-uncovering-bugs-is-a-local-llm-on-framework-desktop-amd-ryzen-ai-max-hcg1tgjw9) · Phoronix · 4 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Rocky Linux Creator Built a New \"Not Linux\" Kernel in 11 Days Using AI","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay"},"datePublished":"2026-10-27T16:37:48.996Z","dateModified":"2026-10-27T16:52:35.614Z","description":"Gregory Kurtzer, creator of CentOS and Rocky Linux, built a new operating system kernel called Ginux and didn't write most of the code himself. Ginux is a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5b1005b2022bb5ad19bc2807cab4857d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/5b1005b2022bb5ad19bc2807cab4857d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"It's Foss","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"It's Foss","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/582e3faed71842bfb9d3840a787d6700","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},"commentCount":2,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}],"keywords":"linux,ai-agents,rust","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It's Foss","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Rocky Linux Creator Built a New \"Not Linux\" Kernel in 11 Days Using AI"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"I wouldn’t use this. OS development is serious work and cannot be entrusted to AI.","datePublished":"2026-10-28T08:52:41.547Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/aq9Px4yay#c-NmEypELLL","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"DefinitelyNotALizard","url":"https://daily.dev/notalizard_really","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qYpcslfd--/f_auto/v1781591788/avatars/avatar_77vKI1B7gkjtKWy1PIDak?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"no security audit\n\nCritical, Blocker","datePublished":"2026-10-28T18:47:45.580Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/aq9Px4yay#c-1POqaaqLa","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"JustBrowsing","url":"https://daily.dev/justbrowsing","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rocky-linux-creator-built-a-new-not-linux-kernel-in-11-days-using-ai-aq9px4yay#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is Ginux and is it a Linux kernel fork?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Ginux is an independent, Rust-first x86-64 kernel built from scratch, not a fork of Linux. It implements the Linux ABI so existing Linux binaries run unmodified, and it boots Rocky Linux 10 all the way to systemd's multi-user.target inside a QEMU virtual machine, though it currently lacks real hardware, GPU, or NVMe support. developers exploring AI-built systems software can track emerging projects like this one on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How was the Ginux kernel developed using AI?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Gregory Kurtzer used one persistent OpenAI Codex task running GPT-5.6 Sol for 11 days to write the kernel, producing about 139,000 retained lines of implementation and test code across more than 1,000 commits. He calls this approach Human-Directed Agentic Engineering, where the human sets architecture, constraints, and milestones while the agent writes, boots, tests, and revises the code. teams weighing agentic coding workflows can follow real-world case studies like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Who created Rocky Linux and CentOS?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Gregory Kurtzer created CentOS, and after Red Hat changed CentOS's direction, he started Rocky Linux as a community replacement. He also co-founded CIQ, a company providing enterprise support around Rocky Linux. developers tracking the people and projects shaping Linux distros can follow updates on daily.dev."}}]} ```