Announcement: Genode OS Framework version 20.08 released

[Norman Feske]

I'm happy to announce today's release of Genode 20.08. The two most
prominent topics of the new version are our port of the Chromium web
engine and the redesign of the low-level GUI stack.

With the Chromium engine, we expose Genode to an extremely heavy-weight
workload, which stresses the framework like never before on many levels,
from the quality of our POSIX runtime, the ability to bridge 3rd-party
build systems with Genode, to the performance and robustness of our
native protocol stacks (TCP/IP, graphics, file-system access). So the
collateral improvements while porting this behemoth of software are
valuable for the users of the framework at large.

The rework of the framework's low-level GUI stack is the result of a
design and planning phase of over two years. With the architectural
change conducted during this release cycle, we clear the path for the
ability to swap-out graphics and input drivers on the fly without
reboot, and to realize features like screen capturing and remote desktop
scenarios in a privacy-protecting way.

Besides these highlights, the release comes with plentiful improvements
ranging from hardware-support (i.MX8), over the modularisation of CBE
block encryptor, to CPU-affinity management for Sculpt OS.

A quick summary of the most visible topics:

- Redesigned low-level GUI stack
  - Removal of drivers from the trusted computing base
  - Consistent use of 32 bits per pixel
- Improved Qt5 integration and work flows
- Chromium engine and Falkon web browser
- Pluggable crypto and trust anchor for the CBE block encrypter
- Device drivers and platforms
  - ARM Trusted Firmware access
  - Power and clock management for i.MX 8M Quad SoC
- New block server backed by VFS content
- New port of SDL2 library
- Interactive CPU-affinity management for Sculpt OS

You can find all the details in the release documentation at

  https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/20.08

Enjoy!

Norman

-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

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

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