Roadmap 2015

Mon Dec 22 18:54:48 CET 2014

I myself have been trying to do my own work on making Genode a
general-purpose OS, and am willing to contribute a fair amount, however I
have always been running into block device issues. The AHCI and ATAPI
drivers don't work, and the USB driver isn't working for USB storage. All 3
drivers fail to announce the service "Block". Once these drivers are fixed,
I will be able (and more than willing) to provide help in making Genode
into a general-purpose OS.
After the block device drivers, my second suggestion would be to either
create a Nitpicker X server or else to port the main X libraries to
Nitpicker. After that, for Genode's first desktop environment, we could
port LXQt. It's very lightweight and it's compatible with Qt5. I would be
happy to take part in this task.
As for Linux, it would be cool to make a kernel-agnostic version of L4Linux.
On Dec 22, 2014 10:07 AM, "Tim Newsham" <tim.newsham at ...9...> wrote:

> my two cents, tinted by my own personal world view (I
> work in the security field) -- I think a great way to showcase
> Genode's strengths (and the strengths of underlying kernels,
> such as (soon) seL4) would be to port the chrome browser.
> It's open source (and unfortunately very large), it's one of
> the most important programs today, it is already designed
> for security, and one of its strengths is its sandboxing of
> components. However, chrome's sandbox is not nearly
> as strong as it could be, and a capability based system
> like Genode that can put together the minimal set of
> necessary components would make a much stronger
> sandbox. Chrome is already architected properly for this,
> it would just needed to be ported appropriately with the
> right platform support.
>
> Chrome's security is among the best in the industry, but
> it is still regularly defeated in challenges such as the
> yearly pwn2own contest.
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 1:22 AM, Norman Feske
> <norman.feske at ...1...> wrote:
> > 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
> >
> >
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>
> --
> Tim Newsham | www.thenewsh.com/~newsham | @newshtwit |
> thenewsh.blogspot.com
>
>
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