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> modified MINIX as an operating system Say what?! Anyone know more about this? MINIX is neat in some ways, but I never thought of it as a production ready O

by davidw 9y ago

> modified MINIX as an operating system Say what?! Anyone know more about this? MINIX is neat in some ways, but I never thought of it as a production ready OS.

edaemon 9y ago
Intel ME has the MINIX license copyright message in it: https://twitter.com/qrs/status/857342798420422657 https://twitter.com/qrs/status/857342798420422657 Positive Technologies, the people doing the presentation in the OP, have this blog entry about earlier findings surrounding Intel ME (some of the language from this entry is used in OP): http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html
- otakucode 9y ago
  I know I watched a presentation on YouTube from a hacking convention from the same folks who figured out how to disable the IME, but after 15 minutes of searching YouTube I can not find it at all. If you come across it, it's a good watch.
Keyframe 9y ago
Haven't heard about MINIX since the Linus and Tanenbaum debate!
- KGIII 9y ago
  It still exists and is still getting regular updates. I have a VM image that I sometimes play with. For what it is, I've found it functional and stable. I'm not really qualified to offer much more of an opinion than that. Anyhow, grab your favorite VM software and give it a spin. There have been loads of changes to it. I do mean a lot of changes. You can even use Firefox with it. It's on my to-do list to try it on bare metal. I understand it isn't too bad with regards to hardware compatibility. But, I've never tried it outside of a VM, with the exception of a friend having it on bare metal many years ago.
  - davidw 9y ago
    The one time I messed with it, I found the source code to be very clean and navigable, so if you're learning, it's still a great OS for that purpose.
    - KGIII 9y ago
      I believe that's why it exists, actually. The author was a professor, though I think he is now retired. It was an OS written for his class to learn from and the source was in a book about operating systems. At least that's what my memory tells me. I'm not a computer scientist, I was just tangentially involved and picked this up by osmosis. I haven't read the book and my programming skills are such that I can do it, but you don't want to see the results.
      - Sean1708 9y ago
        According to Wikipedia[0] > Early versions of MINIX were created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes. Starting with MINIX 3, the primary aim of development shifted from education to the creation of a highly reliable and self-healing microkernel OS. So you're right about how it started, but it's no longer the main focus. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINIX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINIX
        KGIII 9y ago
        Thanks! It does do a good job at demonstrating a microkernel is viable. As said above, I'm not a CS guy. So, to me at least, it's fascinating to read and learn about the philosophical differences between a micro and a monolithic kernel. There's the speed penalty but, with modern hardware, that isn't all that significant. It shouldn't suffer a complete crash. I really think AST was ahead of his time and that it will be a viable option in the future. I do want to try it on bare metal. I suppose I should actually do that. Maybe I should document my experiences and publish them online somewhere?
        davidw 9y ago
        That's pretty interesting; I wonder how it compares to other, similar systems.

by davidw 9y ago

> modified MINIX as an operating system Say what?! Anyone know more about this? MINIX is neat in some ways, but I never thought of it as a production ready OS.

edaemon 9y ago

Intel ME has the MINIX license copyright message in it: https://twitter.com/qrs/status/857342798420422657 https://twitter.com/qrs/status/857342798420422657 Positive Technologies, the people doing the presentation in the OP, have this blog entry about earlier findings surrounding Intel ME (some of the language from this entry is used in OP): http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html

otakucode 9y ago
I know I watched a presentation on YouTube from a hacking convention from the same folks who figured out how to disable the IME, but after 15 minutes of searching YouTube I can not find it at all. If you come across it, it's a good watch.

Keyframe 9y ago

Haven't heard about MINIX since the Linus and Tanenbaum debate!

KGIII 9y ago
It still exists and is still getting regular updates. I have a VM image that I sometimes play with. For what it is, I've found it functional and stable. I'm not really qualified to offer much more of an opinion than that. Anyhow, grab your favorite VM software and give it a spin. There have been loads of changes to it. I do mean a lot of changes. You can even use Firefox with it. It's on my to-do list to try it on bare metal. I understand it isn't too bad with regards to hardware compatibility. But, I've never tried it outside of a VM, with the exception of a friend having it on bare metal many years ago.
- davidw 9y ago
  The one time I messed with it, I found the source code to be very clean and navigable, so if you're learning, it's still a great OS for that purpose.
  - KGIII 9y ago
    I believe that's why it exists, actually. The author was a professor, though I think he is now retired. It was an OS written for his class to learn from and the source was in a book about operating systems. At least that's what my memory tells me. I'm not a computer scientist, I was just tangentially involved and picked this up by osmosis. I haven't read the book and my programming skills are such that I can do it, but you don't want to see the results.
    - Sean1708 9y ago
      According to Wikipedia[0] > Early versions of MINIX were created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes. Starting with MINIX 3, the primary aim of development shifted from education to the creation of a highly reliable and self-healing microkernel OS. So you're right about how it started, but it's no longer the main focus. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINIX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINIX
      - KGIII 9y ago
        Thanks! It does do a good job at demonstrating a microkernel is viable. As said above, I'm not a CS guy. So, to me at least, it's fascinating to read and learn about the philosophical differences between a micro and a monolithic kernel. There's the speed penalty but, with modern hardware, that isn't all that significant. It shouldn't suffer a complete crash. I really think AST was ahead of his time and that it will be a viable option in the future. I do want to try it on bare metal. I suppose I should actually do that. Maybe I should document my experiences and publish them online somewhere?
      - davidw 9y ago
        That's pretty interesting; I wonder how it compares to other, similar systems.