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Is macOS in any recognizable way still a micro-kernal operating system or did that get removed as well?
by jdboyd 9mo ago
Is macOS in any recognizable way still a micro-kernal operating system or did that get removed as well?
- pjmlp 9mo agoOS X was never a proper micro-kernel, rather an hybrid one like Windows NT, using still a micro-kernel like approach but with subsystems on the same process space. https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/attachments/986_inside_the_mac_osx_kernel.pdf https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/attach... https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Mac-OS-Internals-Approach-paperback/dp/0134426541 https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Mac-OS-Internals-Approach-paperba... If anything it is going more into that direction, after Apple announced removing all kernel extensions, and having userspace counterparts to them. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/SystemExtensions https://developer.apple.com/documentation/SystemExtensions https://developer.apple.com/documentation/systemextensions/implementing-drivers-system-extensions-and-kexts#Implement-low-level-services-using-system-extensions https://developer.apple.com/documentation/systemextensions/i... Usually it takes one OS version between introducing new userspace APIs, and removing the old way on the following version.
- wpm 9mo agoApple removed third-party kernel extensions (and even so only removed the ability to install them without going into recovery and changing a scary box). There are still lots of .kext files in the /System folder for hardware drivers.
- pjmlp 9mo agoYes, however that brings it closer to a micro-kernel model, if no one else is allowed to change the kernel as shipped from factory, having everything else done in userspace. Additionally, if there is a userspace extension to an existing kernel extension, the userspace one will take precedence.