Genode at virtual FOSDEM 2021

[ttcoder at netcourrier.com]

> >>    https://fosdem.org/2021/schedule/track/microkernel/

> > the recording of my talk has become available now:
> > 
> > 
> > https://video.fosdem.org/2021/D.microkernel/microkernel_pluggable_device_dr
> ivers_for_genode.webm
> 
> This went by without much fanfare, but this presentation is a fantastic 
> overview of the recent architectural changes where reversing the 
> "client-server" relationship of the interface layers resulted in a more 
> flexible design, without sacrificing the simplicity of the original.
> 
> To anyone even remotely interested in this topic, the video is well 
> worth your time!

"Plus one" to that, and to the auto-restart driver feature.

When Norman feigned surprise and said "ooohh.. looks like it crashed.." I had a smirk on my face because I guessed what was coming next, but I can imagine the shock for people who see the video without knowing the video driver is going to auto restart (well double shock actually, because the driver crash does not crash the whole system in the first place -- for a monolithic kernel it would be the end of the story right there). The question session at the end must have been with fellow micro-kernel pros because they didn't seem as impressed as I am, but for the average man on the street wow.

Talked to an old-school colleague about this and he says an ancestor of QNX was actually first with the "self healing driver" concept, tried to downplay Genode a little <g>. Well even if so, Genode is becoming a full fledged desktop OS (among several other things), so it will be "first" with restartable drivers from that perspective at least.

Cedric