4 ms·

An example from the linked blog post: > It strikes me that anti-microkernel sentiment most vocally originates as a sort of tribal affiliation mechanism by Linu

An example from the linked blog post: > It strikes me that anti-microkernel sentiment most vocally originates as a sort of tribal affiliation mechanism by Linux users to ward off insecurity. I think the post would be a better reference and stand a greater chance of correcting common misconceptions if it didn't include so many ad-hominem attacks against those who don't agree with the post's author. As-is, it just appears to be a continuation of a long-running flame-war.

snvzz 9y ago
I agree. Unfortunately, I am not aware of a compilation of misconceptions on microkernels article that's more valuable than this one.
- naasking 9y ago
  It seems pretty trivial: every hypervisor and/or virtualized system is running a type of microkernel. If it's fast enough for the cloud, it's fast enough period.
  - sitkack 9y ago
    I find it ironic that Linux itself is an application running underneath a microkernel.
    - kazinator 9y ago
      Running Linux under something lower level is old hat, see RTLinux: http://www.yodaiken.com/papers/BarabanovThesis.pdf http://www.yodaiken.com/papers/BarabanovThesis.pdf [1997] Well, that's not exactly a microkernel, but took lots of inspiration from microkernels. I take it that you may be alluding to the debate between Torvalds and Tannenbaum regarding microkernels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_deb...
      - naasking 9y ago
        The first PowerPC linux for the Power Mac ran under the Mach microkernel [1]. Then there was also L4Linux, which I believe was the first low-overhead virtualization of Linux using the L4 microkernel. Papers demonstrated < 10% overhead I believe, where previous virtualization efforts were somewhat higher. I'd say it kicked off the whole paravirtualization/virtualization craze. [1] http://www.mklinux.org/ http://www.mklinux.org/

snvzz 9y ago

I agree. Unfortunately, I am not aware of a compilation of misconceptions on microkernels article that's more valuable than this one.

naasking 9y ago
It seems pretty trivial: every hypervisor and/or virtualized system is running a type of microkernel. If it's fast enough for the cloud, it's fast enough period.
- sitkack 9y ago
  I find it ironic that Linux itself is an application running underneath a microkernel.
  - kazinator 9y ago
    Running Linux under something lower level is old hat, see RTLinux: http://www.yodaiken.com/papers/BarabanovThesis.pdf http://www.yodaiken.com/papers/BarabanovThesis.pdf [1997] Well, that's not exactly a microkernel, but took lots of inspiration from microkernels. I take it that you may be alluding to the debate between Torvalds and Tannenbaum regarding microkernels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_deb...
    - naasking 9y ago
      The first PowerPC linux for the Power Mac ran under the Mach microkernel [1]. Then there was also L4Linux, which I believe was the first low-overhead virtualization of Linux using the L4 microkernel. Papers demonstrated < 10% overhead I believe, where previous virtualization efforts were somewhat higher. I'd say it kicked off the whole paravirtualization/virtualization craze. [1] http://www.mklinux.org/ http://www.mklinux.org/