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Be is much more like NT than OS/2 or classic Mac OS. Like NT: kernel written in C, portable, emphasis on multi-threading, robust against subsystem failures, shi

Be is much more like NT than OS/2 or classic Mac OS. Like NT: kernel written in C, portable, emphasis on multi-threading, robust against subsystem failures, shipped with a TCP/IP stack in the base OS. Be booted straight into the desktop but you could download software to give it a logon screen like NT4 and different users - the structures were already in place. The current crop of operating systems may themselves be a temporary niche. The design of NT and unix are awash with single-host assumptions yet most use-cases are now networked. Consider the way that linux filesystem handles are specific to the host they are running on, rather than the grid of computers they run in. Yet we run word-processors in browsers, ssh to other host to dispatch jobs. There is a gap for a system which has an API that feels like an operating system API, but which sits on top of a grid of computers, rather than a single host. The kernel/keeper acts as a resource-manager for CPUs and memory in the grid. Such systems exist in sophisticated companies but not in the mainstream. Apache Yarn is an example of a system headed in that direction. Once such a system becomes mainstream, you don't need the kind of complex operating systems we have now. A viable OS would do far less - coordinate drivers, scheduler, TCP/IP stack.

kev009 2y ago
Yeah, we cannot see very far into the future and betting that system software will remain stagnate is not a good bet. If that means wholesale replacement, few of us will understand it at first. Otherwise retrofits will remain the norm for example one old idea that seems to be on the up and up is hardware-enforced capability systems and those working on them have found plausible ways to retain most of the existing C ABI world. Whether it always remains a good idea to continue propping up the past is one of the hardest questions and ultimately will be more of an economic one. There are obsolete systems that meet your criteria, Plan 9 and Apollo Domain/OS had plausible early answers for networked computing that haven't been adequately explored. For your last point, I would say scheduling, security, namespacing are the core features and everything else can be layered (perhaps interchangeably) on top. As a practical example, even in monolithic FreeBSD it supports fully runtime swappable TCP/IP stacks and out of tree network stacks.. the core illusion for that system is retaining the same Socket interface for userspace. Presumably if you get the namespacing thing right the entire system and network of things would look a lot more like deliberately interchangeable parts.
- cturner 2y ago
  Had not heard of Apollo, an interesting read. I am building a 9P library at the moment towards some projects in this spirit. You make a good case for base features in your last paragraph. I think monolith drivers as well. Raw speed seems to be important for survival in computing platforms. I am far from a domain expert but as far as I know, monolith drivers have efficiency/speed advantages over microkernel.

kev009 2y ago

Yeah, we cannot see very far into the future and betting that system software will remain stagnate is not a good bet. If that means wholesale replacement, few of us will understand it at first. Otherwise retrofits will remain the norm for example one old idea that seems to be on the up and up is hardware-enforced capability systems and those working on them have found plausible ways to retain most of the existing C ABI world. Whether it always remains a good idea to continue propping up the past is one of the hardest questions and ultimately will be more of an economic one. There are obsolete systems that meet your criteria, Plan 9 and Apollo Domain/OS had plausible early answers for networked computing that haven't been adequately explored. For your last point, I would say scheduling, security, namespacing are the core features and everything else can be layered (perhaps interchangeably) on top. As a practical example, even in monolithic FreeBSD it supports fully runtime swappable TCP/IP stacks and out of tree network stacks.. the core illusion for that system is retaining the same Socket interface for userspace. Presumably if you get the namespacing thing right the entire system and network of things would look a lot more like deliberately interchangeable parts.

cturner 2y ago
Had not heard of Apollo, an interesting read. I am building a 9P library at the moment towards some projects in this spirit. You make a good case for base features in your last paragraph. I think monolith drivers as well. Raw speed seems to be important for survival in computing platforms. I am far from a domain expert but as far as I know, monolith drivers have efficiency/speed advantages over microkernel.