[13] As of 2010[update], efforts focused on libc, the NFS lock manager, the crypto module, and many device drivers, to create a Solaris-like OS with no closed, proprietary code.

As of 2012[update], development emphasis includes transitioning from the historical compiler, Studio, to GCC.

At the time,[clarification needed] Illumos had been lightly led by founder Garrett D'Amore and other community members/developers such as Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, via a Developers' Council.

[16] As of 2019 its primary development project, illumos-gate, derives from OS/Net (aka ON),[17] which is a Solaris kernel with the bulk of the drivers, core libraries, and basic utilities, similar to what is delivered by a BSD "src" tree.

[18][19][20] Distributions, at illumos.org[21] Discontinued: The Illumos Foundation was incorporated in the State of California in 2012 as a 501(c)6 trade association, with founding board members Jason Hoffman (formerly at Joyent), Evan Powell (Nexenta), and Garrett D'Amore.