MOS: New Open-Source Modular OS Built for Homelabs and Self-Hosting

A new open-source project called MOS — short for Modular Operating System — has launched as a free, lightweight server OS targeting homelab users and self-hosters who want a capable platform without the complexity overhead of enterprise-grade alternatives. Built on top of Devuan, MOS is developed by ich777 (Christoph) and is available on GitHub.

What MOS Does

MOS provides a browser-accessible web dashboard that gives operators a unified view of CPU, RAM, storage devices, and network interfaces, along with management modules for storage pools, file shares, users, and services. What sets it apart is the integration of several best-of-breed open-source tools under a single roof:

• mergerfs for combining multiple physical disks into a single unified filesystem pool
• SnapRAID for snapshot-based parity protection without traditional RAID complexity
• Docker and LXC containers managed directly from the dashboard
• Virtual machine support accessible through the same interface

A real-time WebSocket connection augments the REST API to deliver live notifications and system events to the interface, and a plugin catalog called MOS Hub allows operators to extend base capabilities with additional services and templates.

Privacy-First and Fully Local

MOS collects no telemetry, no usage data, and sends no information off-device. The project explicitly targets users who value three qualities: low overhead, full control, and privacy by default. All processing and data remain entirely on the user's own hardware.

Early Stage but Actively Developed

MOS is currently at version 0.1.9-beta, and the developers are candid that the project is in early stages with bugs expected and features still in progress. Breaking changes are intentionally avoided wherever possible to protect early adopters. The source is hosted on GitHub under the ich777/mos-releases and ich777/mos-docs repositories.

For homelab users tired of stitching together separate dashboards for storage, containers, and VMs — or paying for commercial NAS software — MOS represents a promising early-stage alternative worth watching.