4 ms·

A Tour of the Fuchsia Operating System [video]

87 points by hortense 5y ago

rememberlenny 5y ago
For anyone curious, this is actually a very big deal. Fuchsia is a sort of secret Google project to redesign the operating system from scratch - with a focus of making multi-device interactions a base primative. The goal is to make multi-device interactions easier and not dependent on pseudo HTTP initiated sockets/streams. It’s very exciting and hopefully makes it possible to have all the devices you are working with easily work together. For example, pull up content on your phone, pass it to your TV, interact with it on your keyboard, sync with your smart watch, etc. The opposite today would be depending on a series of memory issues or depending on browsers or socket/protocols to manage a series of interactions between devices.
- jjtheblunt 5y ago
  It sounds like you just described the Apple ecosystem, and I don't mean that's a bad thing to have more than one reimagining of such.
  - new_realist 5y ago
    Apple didn’t rewrite their OS to get there, however. I guess someone at Google needs a promotion.
    - SeriousM 5y ago
      Apple startet with this approach long ago. There was no "modern" approach to solve the problem. However today there is more knowledge to tackle this.
- PhilippGille 5y ago
  > with a focus of making multi-device interactions a base primative Could you link to a source for that? I don't recall it being mentioned or shown in the video, and it's also not mentioned as core concept in their docs [1]. [1] https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  It's not obvious to me why baking-in network connectivity to the OS would be helpful, but Plan 9 thought so too! > Under Plan 9, UNIX's everything is a file metaphor is extended via a pervasive network-centric filesystem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs
  - smazga 5y ago
    I'm just an amateur plan9 user, but one thing it does is allow the application to be written as if it were just a local application. But because everything is just a file, you can have the application use remote resources just by changing what that file "points to" (the namespace of the application) without changing the application itself.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  OS IPC is nothing new, that is how COM works, and Project Treble has added a Fuchsia like layer to Android. By the way, it isn't that secret, because not only you can track the development on the open, there is at least one device shipping Fuchsia in production.
Ajedi32 5y ago
This is unbelievably cool. It feels a bit like diving into a new fantasy book or TV series; there's so much to explore. Everything's just so radically different from the world you're used to, and every new fact you learn hints at dozens of other systems you don't yet know anything about. Really a fascinating introduction.
- technofiend 5y ago
  Right? I'm excited about this the way I was when Plan 9 first came out. It's always fun to get in deep to the details and learn something new, particularly when they've reimagined something like Unix. Google is hiring evangelists and have released it to their Nest Hub, so they must be close to wider use. Wondering if we'll see this on the Pixel 6.
- abarth 5y ago
  Thanks!
sydthrowaway 5y ago
how is this different to zircon
- dashdot 5y ago
  They discuss it around 30 mins into the video
- gjsman-1000 5y ago
  Zircon is the kernel, Fuchsia is the OS.
bjoli 5y ago
Oh my. Is THAT how you pronounce it? How did it manage to get that far from poor old Fuchs? Did it come into english through french? Are you that scared of accidentally cursing? I am flabbergasted, and fantastically curious! It surely explains why people have been smiling a bit when I have talked about it.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  I was never able to spell Fuchsia until I learned about Mr Fuchs. EDIT: hah, something like that: "named...by French botanist...from the Latinized name of German botanist" https://www.etymonline.com/word/fuchsia https://www.etymonline.com/word/fuchsia
krankthat 5y ago
To answer the obligatory question "but does it run linux?": well, kinda ... it can run ELF binaries, but it only supports the syscalls defined in "posix-lite".
- xxgreg 5y ago
  There's also ongoing development on "starnix" which aims to run unmodified Linux binaries.
swiley 5y ago
The Android userspace meant you didn't have to publish parts of your rom, now thanks to fuchsia you can keep the whole thing close. We can only hope Google's incompetence kills it.

87 points by hortense 5y ago

For anyone curious, this is actually a very big deal. Fuchsia is a sort of secret Google project to redesign the operating system from scratch - with a focus of making multi-device interactions a base primative. The goal is to make multi-device interactions easier and not dependent on pseudo HTTP initiated sockets/streams. It’s very exciting and hopefully makes it possible to have all the devices you are working with easily work together. For example, pull up content on your phone, pass it to your TV, interact with it on your keyboard, sync with your smart watch, etc. The opposite today would be depending on a series of memory issues or depending on browsers or socket/protocols to manage a series of interactions between devices.

jjtheblunt 5y ago
It sounds like you just described the Apple ecosystem, and I don't mean that's a bad thing to have more than one reimagining of such.
- new_realist 5y ago
  Apple didn’t rewrite their OS to get there, however. I guess someone at Google needs a promotion.
  - SeriousM 5y ago
    Apple startet with this approach long ago. There was no "modern" approach to solve the problem. However today there is more knowledge to tackle this.
PhilippGille 5y ago
> with a focus of making multi-device interactions a base primative Could you link to a source for that? I don't recall it being mentioned or shown in the video, and it's also not mentioned as core concept in their docs [1]. [1] https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts
jazzyjackson 5y ago
It's not obvious to me why baking-in network connectivity to the OS would be helpful, but Plan 9 thought so too! > Under Plan 9, UNIX's everything is a file metaphor is extended via a pervasive network-centric filesystem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs
- smazga 5y ago
  I'm just an amateur plan9 user, but one thing it does is allow the application to be written as if it were just a local application. But because everything is just a file, you can have the application use remote resources just by changing what that file "points to" (the namespace of the application) without changing the application itself.
pjmlp 5y ago
OS IPC is nothing new, that is how COM works, and Project Treble has added a Fuchsia like layer to Android. By the way, it isn't that secret, because not only you can track the development on the open, there is at least one device shipping Fuchsia in production.

Ajedi32 5y ago

This is unbelievably cool. It feels a bit like diving into a new fantasy book or TV series; there's so much to explore. Everything's just so radically different from the world you're used to, and every new fact you learn hints at dozens of other systems you don't yet know anything about. Really a fascinating introduction.

technofiend 5y ago
Right? I'm excited about this the way I was when Plan 9 first came out. It's always fun to get in deep to the details and learn something new, particularly when they've reimagined something like Unix. Google is hiring evangelists and have released it to their Nest Hub, so they must be close to wider use. Wondering if we'll see this on the Pixel 6.
abarth 5y ago
Thanks!

sydthrowaway 5y ago

how is this different to zircon

dashdot 5y ago
They discuss it around 30 mins into the video
gjsman-1000 5y ago
Zircon is the kernel, Fuchsia is the OS.

bjoli 5y ago

Oh my. Is THAT how you pronounce it? How did it manage to get that far from poor old Fuchs? Did it come into english through french? Are you that scared of accidentally cursing? I am flabbergasted, and fantastically curious! It surely explains why people have been smiling a bit when I have talked about it.

jazzyjackson 5y ago
I was never able to spell Fuchsia until I learned about Mr Fuchs. EDIT: hah, something like that: "named...by French botanist...from the Latinized name of German botanist" https://www.etymonline.com/word/fuchsia https://www.etymonline.com/word/fuchsia

krankthat 5y ago

To answer the obligatory question "but does it run linux?": well, kinda ... it can run ELF binaries, but it only supports the syscalls defined in "posix-lite".

xxgreg 5y ago
There's also ongoing development on "starnix" which aims to run unmodified Linux binaries.

swiley 5y ago

The Android userspace meant you didn't have to publish parts of your rom, now thanks to fuchsia you can keep the whole thing close. We can only hope Google's incompetence kills it.