Winter 2025

Boot

Build your OS. Share. Get prizes.

About Boot

Boot is a YSWS (You Ship We Ship) where teens from around the world come together to build their own operating systems — from the ground up or from something already great.

Whether you're going completely custom with LFS or Buildroot, or remixing a distro like Ubuntu into something entirely your own, the choice is yours.

Throughout the event, participants will make, test, and vote on each other's OSes. Sweet prizes await!

When: 12/01/25 04/01/26
Platform: Virtual
Age: 13-18 years
Cost: Free!

What Counts as an OS?

From Scratch

Build your OS from the ground up, not based on any other OS (May still use other libraries, etc)

Base it off

Make an OS based off an existing OS (Debian, Fedora, Arch, RPi OS, Ubuntu, etc) and make it your own!
New to OS development? No problem! We'll provide guides (WIP).

Support Boot

Help us create an amazing YSWS
Donate

Donations Help Fund

Prizes & Awards

Hardware and other prizes for participants to reward creativity and innovation in OS development

Infrastructure

Cloud VMs, servers, and resources to keep Boot running smoothly for all participants

Volunteer With Us

Designer

Help us create visuals

Reviewer

Help review projects

Writer

Write help guides and material

Anything Else

Whatever you can offer

Frequently Asked Questions

Join