Announcement: Genode OS Framework version 11.02 released

[Norman Feske]

We are happy to announce the release of the version 11.02 of the Genode
OS Framework.

The development is this version was primarily focused on further
expanding the platform support of the framework. We are excited about
the following three significant improvements in this area.

First, we introduced support for the Fiasco.OC kernel, which is a modern
capability-based microkernel developed at the Dresden University of
Technology and published under GPLv2. Fiasco.OC provides a rich set of
features, most notably kernel support for user-level object capabilities
(hence the suffix "OC"), multi-processor support, and comprehensive
support for the x86_32, x86_64, and ARM architectures. For more
information on Fiasco.OC visit

  http://os.inf.tu-dresden.de/fiasco

Second, we upgraded the support for the NOVA hypervisor to version 0.3,
and thereby, promoted the NOVA version of Genode to cover the entire
Genode API. So, NOVA can now be recommended as base platform for Genode
without reservations. The project website of NOVA is:

  http://hypervisor.org

Third, the Genode project reaches out to kernel land by adding a custom
kernel platform for running Genode on the Xilinx MicroBlaze CPU
architecture. Our design has a special twist that sets it apart from
existing microkernels, namely that it is not a free-standing program but
a part of Genode's core. By consolidating the kernel with the user-level
core into one program, the TCB complexity of the Genode base systems
gets quite dramatically reduced compared to the combination of a normal
microkernel with core running as roottask.

The most prominent functional addition introduced with the new release,
is the Noux execution environment, which facilitates the use of GNU
userland software on top of Genode without requiring much manual porting
labour. Albeit being in an early stage, Noux is already able to run many
commands of the GNU coreutils.

In short, the release notes summary is:

  - Fiasco.OC as new base platform
  - Running Genode natively on MicroBlaze CPUs
  - Support for version 0.3 of the NOVA hypervisor
  - Noux execution environment for GNU userland software
  - Base framework
    - Core resource accounting using guarded allocators
    - Protocol enhancements for upgrading session quotas
  - Qt4 updated to version 4.7.1
  - New tool for automated integration and testing

Please find a more elaborative description of the changes accompanied
with a lot of background information in the release notes of version 11.02:

  http://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/11.02

The new version is ready for download at our download page at
Sourceforge and our public SVN repository:

  http://genode.org/download

Best Regards
-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

http://www.genode-labs.com · http://genode.org

Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden
Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth