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A dream I've had for a long time is to make an application that you boot into, which is the only application on the computer, for maximum optimization. Upgrades

by z3t4 8y ago

A dream I've had for a long time is to make an application that you boot into, which is the only application on the computer, for maximum optimization. Upgrades would be easy, just reboot the computer and load the new software. Wouln't write everything in assembly though.

cirosantilli 8y ago
Yes, the ASM overkill was a mistake of my youth :-) https://github.com/cirosantilli/x86-bare-metal-examples/tree/85931f4e4a9551470a712f15421c69ee5204cfdc#to-c-or-not-to-c https://github.com/cirosantilli/x86-bare-metal-examples/tree...
teddyh 8y ago
What you describe used to be very common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_booter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_booter
adrianN 8y ago
So a Unikernel with your program?
rramadass 8y ago
This is standard "embedded" system programming for lower-end MCUs. "Unikernels" use the same concept to create standalone bootable binaries(linked with reqd. OS modules) to run directly either on HW or on a VM Hypervisor. See "IncludeOS" for one representative example.
Taniwha 8y ago
you're describing any number of embedded systems, including the Arduino runtime - load up an Arduino app and you have your dream come true :-)
OskarS 8y ago
The problem comes when you need to use any kind of hardware, all the drivers would have to be part of your app. The "unikernel" concept however does some version of this: loads a kernel which only supports the minimal amount of functionality and drivers needed and with only a single address space for a single app.
- 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
  Historically this was more tractable because driver code was much simpler and there was a lot of cloning/emulation of "legacy" hardware interfaces (a lot of this is still present on PC, despite vendors' desire to get rid of it). Typically either the hardware capabilities were fundamentally narrower in scope than modern hardware or the hardware had its own controller (sometimes with more raw power than the host CPU...) that implemented an abstract interface. A bare-metal VGA driver for a single mode is no more than a few dozen lines of code, whereas a modern GPU driver stack literally has an optimizing compiler built into it.
pjmlp 8y ago
Besides what everyone is commenting on, this is how Amiga, Atari ST and most console games used to be done.

by z3t4 8y ago

cirosantilli 8y ago

Yes, the ASM overkill was a mistake of my youth :-) https://github.com/cirosantilli/x86-bare-metal-examples/tree/85931f4e4a9551470a712f15421c69ee5204cfdc#to-c-or-not-to-c https://github.com/cirosantilli/x86-bare-metal-examples/tree...

teddyh 8y ago

What you describe used to be very common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_booter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_booter

adrianN 8y ago

So a Unikernel with your program?

rramadass 8y ago

This is standard "embedded" system programming for lower-end MCUs. "Unikernels" use the same concept to create standalone bootable binaries(linked with reqd. OS modules) to run directly either on HW or on a VM Hypervisor. See "IncludeOS" for one representative example.

Taniwha 8y ago

you're describing any number of embedded systems, including the Arduino runtime - load up an Arduino app and you have your dream come true :-)

OskarS 8y ago

The problem comes when you need to use any kind of hardware, all the drivers would have to be part of your app. The "unikernel" concept however does some version of this: loads a kernel which only supports the minimal amount of functionality and drivers needed and with only a single address space for a single app.

0xcde4c3db 8y ago
Historically this was more tractable because driver code was much simpler and there was a lot of cloning/emulation of "legacy" hardware interfaces (a lot of this is still present on PC, despite vendors' desire to get rid of it). Typically either the hardware capabilities were fundamentally narrower in scope than modern hardware or the hardware had its own controller (sometimes with more raw power than the host CPU...) that implemented an abstract interface. A bare-metal VGA driver for a single mode is no more than a few dozen lines of code, whereas a modern GPU driver stack literally has an optimizing compiler built into it.

pjmlp 8y ago

Besides what everyone is commenting on, this is how Amiga, Atari ST and most console games used to be done.