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Welcome to Zarhus

Zarhus is an embedded Linux distribution developed by 3mdeb, built on top of the Yocto Project. It simplifies provisioning, integration, and maintenance of embedded platforms placing security at its core with strong emphasis on Root of Trust (RoT) and Chain of Trust (CoT) technologies. Our goal is to ensure embedded applications are deployed in trustworthy way.

🎯 Mission

  • Host vMeetups and hands-on training to empower developers with knowledge of secure boot and embedded systems.
  • Help users navigate the growing complexity of modern boot chains.
  • Simplify hardware security enablement in a reproducible and transparent way.

🌅 Vision

We envision a world where:

  • Systems are secure, trustworthy, and repairable.
  • Tools enhance creativity and collaboration without diminishing human purpose.
  • Communities thrive through technology that respects freedom, simplicity, and digital sovereignty.

🛠️ Strategy

To achieve this vision, Zarhus:

  • Extends core firmware components like U-Boot, ARM Trusted Firmware, and the Linux Kernel to build an auditable and reproducible Root and Chain of Trust.
  • Integrates advanced hardware security features: secure storage, secure elements, embedded TPMs (e.g., OP-TEE TPMs), encrypted root filesystems, and more.
  • Builds long-term maintainable tooling to support RoT and CoT.
  • Actively collaborates with like-minded communities, such as Dasharo, OpenXT, Qubes OS, Kicksecure, FreeBSD, OpenWRT, Debian, and Fedora.
  • Follows a demo-driven, iterative development approach, emphasizing real-world applicability and constant feedback.
  • Regularly reports progress through working demos and derivative products.

👉 Watch the Welcome Presentation from Zarhus Developers Meetup 0x1.

🧩 What's in the Name?

The name Zarhus is an anagram of the Hungarian word "huszár" a knight in chess and a nod to the Polish Husaria, renowned heavy cavalry. It symbolizes agility, strength, and strategy qualities we bring to embedded system security.

🌍 Join the Community

Be part of Zarhus and contribute to a growing ecosystem:

We are continuously growing and plan to introduce dedicated social events and community spaces—stay tuned!

👥 Our Contribution

Zarhus is proudly developed by 3mdeb, leveraging years of experience in embedded systems, CI/CD, documentation, and Yocto layer optimization.

We’ve contributed 4,300+ lines of code to upstream open-source projects essential to Zarhus:

We also maintain our own open-source layers and tools, including:

📍 Check out the Zarhus public roadmap to track our progress and plans.

🤝 How to Contribute

We welcome contributors of all experience levels! Start with our Newcomer Guide to get up to speed.

Whether you're interested in improving documentation, contributing code, or testing new features, there's a place for you in the Zarhus community.