Katela Kernel

Welcome

You've reached the Katela Kernel website. Katela is a lightweight and simple kernel, but anyone can use Katela in different ways.

Whether you're looking to build a minimal system from the ground up, integrate Katela into an existing project, or use it as the base for a new distribution entirely, Katela is designed to stay out of your way and give you exactly what a kernel should: a solid, predictable foundation.

About the Project

Development of Katela began on April 26, 2026. Since that date, the project has grown from an early set of core primitives into a kernel that now ships with a working set of functions and dedicated modules aimed squarely at contributors and distribution builders. The goal from day one has been to keep the core small and understandable, while still exposing enough hooks and structure for people to build serious systems on top of it.

At this point in its development, Katela already includes modules intended specifically for people building their own distributions on top of the kernel, as well as tooling meant to make life easier for contributors who want to work on the kernel itself. The project is being built with the expectation that other people will build things with it, not just look at it, and the module layout reflects that from the ground up.

It's worth being direct about what Katela is and is not. Katela is not an educational project, it is not a toy project, it is not a hobby project, and it is not a separate operating system. Katela is, plainly and specifically, a kernel — a real piece of core system software meant to be used, extended, and built upon like any other kernel.

Work on Katela is ongoing. As functions and modules continue to be added, the aim stays the same: keep the kernel simple and lightweight at its core, while giving contributors and distribution builders the structure they need to build real things on top of it.