Roadmap 2015

[Norman Feske]

Hello everybody,

with New Year in sight, it is time to make up our minds regarding the
plans for 2015. Everyone of you is invited to suggest directions that
you find worthwhile to pursue - or even better - share your concrete
plans with us. I intend to finalize the road map for 2015 by mid of January.

Personally, I have three ambitions, namely the use of Genode as
general-purpose OS, the base-hw kernel, and the seL4 kernel. Let me
briefly revisit each of them.


Genode as general-purpose OS
----------------------------

We made big steps for pursuing Genode as general-purpose OS on x86-based
platforms. I'd particularly like to highlight the following achievements:

* The use of Rump kernels as file-system providers
* VirtualBox with support for shared folders and guest networking
* Intel wireless stack
* New GUI stack

That said, even though we are proud about the progress, we are still not
there yet. So what keeps us back? I think that the answer is actually
not technical. My observation is that each of us developers used to
concentrate on individual features or technical challenges. But the
integration of sophisticated system scenarios was left to only a few of
us. Such integration feats were mainly motivated by a particular project
or by a presentation. In order to make Genode fit for regular use, we
will first need to make the composing of advanced systems a habit for
most of the regular developers.

I'd like to keep the topic as first priority in 2015 but concentrate
less on features (as I think the feature set for us developers is fairly
complete) but more on looking at Genode in a holistic way. I would like
to see the following things realized:

* A system booting from USB storage, which contains a VirtualBox
  instance running a regular Linux-based OS besides native Genode
  components. A shared folder is to be used to bridge both worlds.
  We start out with working in the guest OS and then successively
  move functionalities over to the Genode world. Those functionalities
  are:
  * Editing text, e.g., using Vim in a Noux environment
  * Creating and starting Genode configurations on the fly
  * Using a web browser in Genode
  * Moving emails to the Genode world
  * Use the Genode tool chain
  * Using Git
  I expect that we will stumble over several small issues and
  inconveniences on our way, which gives us the right motivation
  to rectify those things.

* A way to easily install and use pre-packaged Genode subsystems.
  I'd like to remove the burden to compile Qt5 + WebKit for everyone
  who wants to use a web browser on Genode.

* Tools for looking at the system at runtime to identify performance
  hot spots. I'd love it identify strangely behaving components as
  easily as running 'top' on Linux.

* A solid solution for platform drivers (supporting MSIs and the
  hot-plugging of devices). I.e., I'd like to access the content
  of a plugged-in USB stick without the need to reboot the machine.

* The evolution of our capability-based desktop environment, driven
  by our actual requirements stemming from the daily use of Genode.
  The system should be fun to use and put the user in control at
  all times.

* Making Genode components and libraries binary compatible across
  different kernels. I see this as a prerequisite to offer binary
  packages of Genode subsystems. The new dynamic linker introduced
  in Genode 14.11 is an important step. The next step is the
  unification of the Genode API across all kernels.


Base-hw kernel
--------------

In 2014, our base-hw kernel made the transformation from a research
vehicle to a feasible base platform for Genode. The past year brought a
huge jump in terms of performance, MP support, a clean internal
structure, and a new scheduler.

In 2015 it will eventually become product-quality software. The only
missing element is the support for capability-based security, which is
being worked on right now. For base-hw, my wish list looks as follows:

* Capability-based security
* Integration of our existing ARM virtualization research


seL4 kernel
-----------

I feel that the seL4 kernel and Genode could complement each other
rather well. The use of seL4 as kernel would make Genode very appealing
in application areas where both the kernel's formal verification and
Genode's broad feature set are desired. From the perspective of the seL4
developers, Genode would represent the first true microkernel-based
general-purpose OS running on their kernel. I would hope that, by
supporting seL4 as kernel for Genode, we may create an incentive for
both developer teams to start collaborating more closely.


These are my thoughts. I am looking forward to your ideas and comments.

Cheers
Norman


-- 
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