From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,b95a522100671708 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news1.google.com!news2.google.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Nick Roberts Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: For the AdaOS folks Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:19:46 +0000 Message-ID: References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: individual.net T0oPZcr0JAJ1KiSjtPO3wwl+tBB1hHrP/bGik6pkKRN971z2g= X-Orig-Path: not-for-mail User-Agent: Gemini/1.45d (Qt/3.3.2) (Windows-XP) Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:7311 Date: 2004-12-30T01:19:46+00:00 List-Id: Wes Groleau wrote: > or anyone else with similar ambitions. > > Read "Kill the operating System" page 32 of September 2003 Technology > Review > > Not a prescription, but something to think about. It's interesting that Garfinkel's comments correspond to many ideas that I have had -- some in a vaguer form than others -- during my musings on OS design. One of the biggest challenges is to design an OS that works in a new and better way, and yet is still capable of leveraging the power of an existing software base. One of the reasons, perhaps the biggest reason, why I decided on using a microkernel was for security. I read the 'orange book' (the TCSEC) and others which described how the world of computer science (especially within governemntal and military sectors in the USA and the UK) foresaw the evolution of computer technology. Remember that this is early 1990s, before the domination of Microsoft. The overwhelming consensus was on a microkernel based design, because this allowed the 'trusted computing base' (TCB) -- the part of the overall system's software that had to be trusted not to subvert security -- to be minimised. The consensus was also on a 'fully distributed' system -- a network of computers (always termed 'workstations' regardless of whether they had screens, keyboards, etc.) that operated exactly like a single big computer, from the point of view of normal users -- and so AdaOS is a microkernel-based, fully distributed design. However, I intend to design the microkernel so that it compromises on minimality (unlike some other microkernel designs) to achieve reasonable efficiency (whilst removing much of unnecessary detritus that bogged down experimental microkernels), and I intend to ensure that administrative division of the network is fully supported, as well as network partioning robustness (if some workstations go down, the rest still work). For a very long time, IBM mainframes have supported (very efficient) programmatic access to a system database, as an alternative to file-based data storage. I would like provide both forms of storage in AdaOS, in addition to 'persistent objects' in some form. At the moment, the place where we would like people to discuss AdaOS issues (or anything at all related to OS design) is: http://adaos.multiply.com/ You have to register with Multiply, but that is a very simple process (and you seem to be protected from junk mail etc.). -- Nick Roberts