MineOS is my most recent project: it is a project designed to address the needs of the server adminstrator community for the popular game Minecraft while providing support and a strong, novice-friendly platform to learn Linux, the operating system.
MineOS is a computer game which appeals to the entire age span and has a remarkable population of players who opt into managing their own game server. MineOS aims to provide an extensively-documented platform for serving Minecraft; in doing so, I provide thorough explanations of hardware and software specific mechanisms and design decisions in order to cultivate a more educated community of server administrators.
MineOS is a Linux-learning project and is released under GNU GPL v2 (tinycore) and v3 (CRUX).
The original MineOS is based off the minimalist Linux distribution Microcore Linux; this first-generation distribution contains all the components necessary to start a Minecraft server, while employing many more advanced elements to make the administration and performance first-rate.
The current MineOS is based off CRUX Linux, a more heavy-duty, standardized distribution focusing on expanding the capabilities of the Linux server beyond simply the Minecraft server, but also to webserving, VOIP hosting, and more.
MineOS popularized the concepts of ramdisk-based worlds, individual chunk validation and restoration and space-efficient, incremental world backup using the rsync-algorithm. These concepts are now demystified and widely-embraced in the Minecraft server administrator community.
MineOS receives over 1000 downloads per month and is now offered by numerous hosting companies as an operating system choice. The corresponding Youtube channel has received over 90000 views.