GSoc-2017: Platforms - Microkernelizing Linux, help needed

[Norman Feske]

Hi José,

thanks for your kind words.

> I think this explanation you gave would fit greatly in the Genode site
> documentation. It would help a lot if the documentation had some
> guidance on where to start, essential reading (like Tanenbaum's book on
> Operating Systems), etc. Personally it would be great because I work
> with systems development (Java, etc) but have a lot of interest on
> microkernels and such areas are far from each other.

Actually, I merely recommended the "Genode Foundations" book, which is
already prominently displayed at the front page of genode.org. ;-)

> By the way, some time ago I saw some discussion here about how to make
> this effort more visible. I remember it ended because the focus of the
> project was about developing the framework. I understand and agree with
> that, but if/when the idea comes back, I suggest considering releasing a
> very basic server installation: essential GNU tools, TCP/IP stack, login
> through SSH, a compiler, etc. The problem would be the drivers. But to
> counter that, you could release the ISO at least for Raspberry Pi which
> is a fixed hardware and is very widespread. It could be used as a home
> server by hobbyists as a firewall (where security is paramount), as a
> file server, etc. Or, maybe by handling the work of a dedicated server
> that don't need to withstand great loads. To call more attention, it
> should run starting at Raspberry Pi 1 model B, which has 512MB. About
> this last requirement (to run on Raspberry Pi 1), I don't remember very
> well, but I think running Samba, Apache and a firewall (which is built
> in Linux TCP/IP stack) should not exhaust the memory, so I think it's
> possible.

I like the idea and don't find it unrealistic at all. But that said,
someone has to step forward and actually do it. In the light of the many
topics presented on our road map, it is unlikely that any of the regular
developers will be able to pursue this direction in the near future.

In my opinion, the best we can do is to lower for the bar for a wider
community to pursue such ideas. The package management as planned for
the upcoming release will hopefully contribute to that.

Cheers
Norman

-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

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

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