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Don´t know why this was downvoted, you hit the nail on its head. The fact that it runs directly on hardware doesn't make it a kernel, it doesn't provide any abs
by brokenparser 13y ago
Don´t know why this was downvoted, you hit the nail on its head. The fact that it runs directly on hardware doesn't make it a kernel, it doesn't provide any abstractions for applications to run unmodified without specific hardware provisions.
- steveklabnik 13y agoExokernels provide no abstractions, just a few safety guarantees. So you could argue that this is just an unsafe exokernel. ;) That said, "is it really a kernel as per Wikipedia" is not particularly interesting. It's a damn cool hack that could be the starting point for something interesting and useful, that's all I care about.
- pi18n 13y agoThat's right, don't let their pedantry get you down. It was an interesting post, thank you for sharing it.
- cwzwarich 13y agoExokernels still provide abstractions that allow multiple userspace processes to interact with the hardware. The abstractions are just closer to the underlying hardware, e.g. disk blocks instead of files.
- topbanana 13y agoI was just a little disappointed Steve. Interesting post for sure. Would be interested in seeing part 2 ;)
- steveklabnik 13y agoMy friends have been working on an exokernel in D for years, so that's been our go-to for this kind of thing. It's only like 10 kloc, maybe we should port it for fun...