3 ms·

Things like this, with quirks due to decades and decades of history, always make me wonder what things would be like if we started over, with a clean slate. In

by klum 11y ago

Things like this, with quirks due to decades and decades of history, always make me wonder what things would be like if we started over, with a clean slate. In so many places, when you start digging, you find something that references the way mainframes worked in the sixties or teletypes way before that etc. I mean, it's probably not practical, and it would probably be killed by committee or reimplemented in JavaScript anyway, but you can't help but wonder...

ZenoArrow 11y ago
There are a few groups working on reimagining computing from first principals. VPRI is one such group: http://vpri.org http://vpri.org The most interesting work I know of from VPRI is the STEPS project, which aims to design an OS that fits in less than 20000 lines of code: http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2011004_steps11.pdf http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2011004_steps11.pdf
- klum 11y ago
  Interesting stuff, thanks for the link!
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    You're welcome klum. You may also be interested in unikernel operating systems. The designs vary, but the three points below describe the general idea: * Existing virtualisation technologies (KVM, Xen, etc...) used to manage hardware. * OS images run on top of this virtualised base. * OS images consist of a single software application + a minimal kernel that is customised for the needs of the application. Unikernel-based software has many potential advantages over traditional OS designs, including increased performance (especially compared to other VM approaches), reduced size, better security (though hacks like Blue Pill would probably still apply). The most active unikernel projects are almost all based on functional languages, so you get the benefits associated with functional development too. The Xen Project Wiki has a decent introduction to Unikernels: http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Unikernels http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Unikernels If you wanted an easy way to get started, this guide on the MirageOS website walks you through setting up a simple web server that can be hosted on Xen: https://mirage.io/blog/mirage-seal https://mirage.io/blog/mirage-seal

by klum 11y ago

ZenoArrow 11y ago

There are a few groups working on reimagining computing from first principals. VPRI is one such group: http://vpri.org http://vpri.org The most interesting work I know of from VPRI is the STEPS project, which aims to design an OS that fits in less than 20000 lines of code: http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2011004_steps11.pdf http://www.vpri.org/pdf/tr2011004_steps11.pdf

klum 11y ago
Interesting stuff, thanks for the link!
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  You're welcome klum. You may also be interested in unikernel operating systems. The designs vary, but the three points below describe the general idea: * Existing virtualisation technologies (KVM, Xen, etc...) used to manage hardware. * OS images run on top of this virtualised base. * OS images consist of a single software application + a minimal kernel that is customised for the needs of the application. Unikernel-based software has many potential advantages over traditional OS designs, including increased performance (especially compared to other VM approaches), reduced size, better security (though hacks like Blue Pill would probably still apply). The most active unikernel projects are almost all based on functional languages, so you get the benefits associated with functional development too. The Xen Project Wiki has a decent introduction to Unikernels: http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Unikernels http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Unikernels If you wanted an easy way to get started, this guide on the MirageOS website walks you through setting up a simple web server that can be hosted on Xen: https://mirage.io/blog/mirage-seal https://mirage.io/blog/mirage-seal