Genode OS Framework release 18.11 Nov 29, 2018Genode 18.11 is focused on improving quality assurance on various fronts, including static code analysis, on-target test orchestration, and code-coverage measurements. Furthermore, it introduces support for Mirage-OS unikernels, a new health-monitoring mechanism, a Genode SDK, an SSH server, and a new window layouter. On our road map for 2018, we identified software quality and resilience as one of the major topics for this year. With the current release, we fulfil this promise on various levels, ranging from static code analysis, over the gathering of test-coverage metrics, a new Genode-based test-automation framework, over to the health monitoring of components at runtime. The second theme of the current release is the use of Genode for network appliances and server applications. On that account, the new ability of hosting Mirage-OS unikernels directly on top of Genode as well as a new SSH server component clear the way to entirely new application areas. Further highlights of the current release are the enhanced flexibility of the GUI stack of Sculpt OS, the increased network performance on Xilinx Zynq, the initial version of a Genode SDK, performance improvements of the base-hw kernel on NXP i.MX platforms, and the updated language support for Ada and Java. These and many more topics of the new version are covered by the release documentation of version 18.11... Dual licensing of 3rd-party Genode components Nov 16, 2018To nurture a sustainable ecosystem around the Genode OS framework, we introduce a new approach for conducting dual-licensing businesses enabled by Genode. Since founded ten years ago, Genode Labs pursues the Genode project based on a dual-licensing business model, which allows us to fund the development of Genode as an independent team. The licensing business is enabled by the combination of the AGPLv3 as a strong copyleft license with the library-like nature of Genode. Until today, this model is applicable to our framework but impractical for 3rd-party component developers. To foster a sustainable ecosystem around Genode, we wish to enable others to pursue a similar business model while maintaining the spirit of open collaboration and free software. We eventually crafted a new license called "Genode Component Public License" (Genode CPL) specifically for components developed by 3rd parties, outside of Genode Labs. The article Dual licensing of 3rd-party Genode components provides the rationale, license text, and FAQ of this software license. Sculpt with Visual Composition Sep 21, 2018The third version of Sculpt OS introduces an interactive runtime view for managing components. Sculpt with Visual Composition (VC) is the third stage of the evolution of our Genode-based general-purpose OS. With the new version, we pursue the gradual transition from a text-based user interface to a graphical user interface for most administrative tasks while preserving the text-based interface for full flexibility. The central element of the new user interface is a live view of the current system composition and the relationships between components. The live view is accompanied with a convenient graphical user interface for adding and removing components. The new version is available as a ready-to-use disk image. The updated documentation covers everything from a quick-start guide, over a high-level description of the architecture, to advanced topics like Sculpt's manifold customization opportunities. Genode OS Framework release 18.08 Aug 30, 2018Genode 18.08 advances the framework's device drivers to accommodate modern PC hardware, introduces a new microcode-update mechanism for Intel CPUs, and enhances the networking and VFS infrastructure. With the new version, Sculpt OS enters the next stage by moving towards an interactive graphical user interface. With Genode 18.08, we enter the third episode of our story of developing the Sculpt general-purpose OS. The release addresses four crucial concerns of general-purpose computing, namely the support of modern hardware, the ability to timely respond to the discovery of new CPU-level vulnerabilities by the means of applying microcode updates, the scalability of application workloads, and the interactive usability of the system. The latter is particularly exciting as Genode allows us to explore new user-interface paradigms to lay the power of capability-based security into the hands of the user. The most prominent aspect of the current release is the framework's device-driver support, which includes the update of all Linux-based drivers to kernel version 4.16.3, a largely reworked wifi stack, the split of the USB driver into multiple components, and improved hardware compatibility of the PS/2 and network drivers. The release also introduces an experimental runtime for hosting drivers of Google's Fuchsia OS as Genode components. Among the many further improvements are an extended Ada language runtime, added multi-processor support for our custom base-hw microkernel on x86, the ability to route network traffic between an arbitrary number of physical NICs, and a new way to select the networking stack of a component between lwIP and the Linux TCP/IP by a mere configuration change. All improvements are covered in detail by the release documentation of version 18.08... Sculpt for The Curious Jun 13, 2018The second incarnation of Sculpt OS comes in the form of a ready-to-use disk image. Sculpt for The Curious is the second development stage of the Genode-based general-purpose OS used at Genode Labs. Compared to the initial version, which was targeted at early adopters only, the new version invites a broader user base to explore the system. It comes in the form of a ready-to-use disk image for a bootable USB thumb drive. Immediately after booting the Sculpt base system, a graphical user interface enables the user to access and manage storage devices, and to configure network connectivity. The actual "sculpting" of the system is performed using a text-based interface, which is described in the accompanied documentation. It covers everything from the configuration of the base system up to the installation and deployment of software. Genode OS Framework release 18.05 May 31, 2018With Genode 18.05, we have reached the second stage of Sculpt OS, empowering the user with the automation of fundamental work flows and a new user interface for storage management and network access. Further highlights include the added support for Java, a new NVMe device driver, enhanced VFS infrastructure, and an updated revision of the Genode Foundations book. Our Year of Sculpt continues at a rapid pace. The just released version 18.05 of the Genode OS Framework features the second incarnation of the Sculpt general-purpose OS, targeting the group of people who follow our project with curiosity. Sculpt for The Curios (TC) introduces an interactive user interface for fundamental tasks like selecting and managing storage options, or connecting to a network. It completely streamlines the installation and deployment of additional software by leveraging Genode's custom package-management system. The result is an operating system with a flexibility and fun factor that strikes even us with surprise. The current release contains countless side products of this line work, including the resolution-independent display of text, the dynamic adjustment of user-level network routing, the flexible detection and management of partitions and file systems, and the support of USB storage devices from diverse vendors. Beyond the immediate scope of Sculpt, the new version features the initial support for the Java language, improves the Ada language support, enhances the VFS infrastructure with new copy-on-write and audit plugins, and improves the support for the NXP i.MX SoCs. The entire picture is presented in detail by the release documentation of version 18.05... Sculpt for Early Adopters Mar 02, 2018A detailed step-by-step guide for installing and using the Genode-based Sculpt OS is available now. Sculpt for Early Adopters (EA) is the first revision of our Genode-based general-purpose OS. This version is targeted at enthusiasts who are already familiar with Genode. The documentation covers everything needed to get it running on a real machine. This includes disk preparation, input handling, wireless networking, storage, software installation and deployment, and virtualization. Printable version (pdf) https:/documentation/sculpt-ea.pdf Online version https:/documentation/articles/sculpt-ea Genode OS Framework release 18.02 Feb 28, 2018Genode version 18.02 kicks off the Year of Sculpt by featuring the first revision of the Sculpt operating system for general-purpose computing. Further highlights of the new release range from network-stack improvements, over a new tracing utility, to the experimental use of the Nim programming language. Since we announced the Year of Sculpt on our roadmap, our team anticipated the release of version 18.02 with excitement. The current release officially presents the first revision of the Sculpt operating system, which is targeted at the use of Genode as day-to-day OS. In fact, the system has been in use internally at Genode Labs for several months. We feel confident in sharing it with a broader community now. Driven by the demands of Sculpt, the most prominent topics of this release are Genode's new mechanisms for installing, updating, and deploying software from within a running Genode system. Further highlights are the experimental use of the Nim programming language for the implementation of Genode servers, a new tracing utility that makes Genode's existing tracing infrastructure much easier to use, improvements across the entire user-level networking stack, and updates of many 3rd-party software packages. These and many more topics are covered in detail by the release documentation of version 18.02... Road Map for 2018 Jan 17, 20182018 will be the year of Sculpt. In autumn last year, a new Genode system scenario called "Sculpt" emerged. By the end of 2017, all members of the Genode-Labs team switched to this operating system on their laptops. The planning of 2018 revolves around the ambition to expand the user base of Sculpt in several steps. Additionally, the year will be focused on software quality, device-driver support for popular ARM boards, Genode's custom kernel, and seL4. The new road map is available at the road-map page. Genode at FOSDEM 2018 Jan 16, 2018Genode will participate in the microkernel developer room at FOSDEM with three presentations, covering our recent work on GPUs, user-level networking, and the dynamic sculpting of a Genode-based system. The microkernel developer room at FOSDEM is the melting pot of the open-source microkernel world where projects and users meet to present their work and experience with microkernel-based operating systems. Like every year, we will take the chance to present the recent developments of Genode to the audience. If you are curious about the technology, or interested in meeting the people behind the projects, please do not hesitate to join us at FOSDEM, which will be held on 3rd - 4th of February in Brussels: FOSDEM 2018: https://fosdem.org/2018/ This year, the following Genode-related topics will be presented: Saturday 11:05 GPU resource multiplexing in component based systems Microkernel devroom (AW1.126) abstract... Saturday 12:25 Live sculpting a Genode-based operating system Microkernel devroom (AW1.126) abstract... Saturday 17:30 User-level networking on Genode Microkernel devroom (AW1.126) abstract... The complete schedule of the developer room is available at https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/track/microkernels/. |
