0 Persons are tagged with #operatingsystems

#operatingsystems

waynerad@diasp.org
Wayne Radinsky

"PostgreSQL and Databricks founders join forces for DBOS to create a new type of operating system"

Funny, I was just watching a video earlier today about how Postgres has expanded from a database system to a complete backend stack.

But here, they're talking about something different.

"Today DBOS announced that it has raised $8.5 million in seed funding as well as the launch of its first product, DBOS Cloud, which provides a new type of cloud-native operating system for cloud application deployment."

"Today, a database is a type of application that runs on top of an operating system, which in the cloud is often Linux. DBOS takes a radically different approach to operating systems by running the operating system on top of a high-performance database."

"Operating system services, such as messages, scheduling and file operations, those are all written in SQL on top of a very high-performance OLTP DBMS [Online Transaction Processing Database Management System]."

"Taking aim at Linux and the Kubernetes container orchestration system and the etcd key value store, they say."

This isn't the first time I've heard of someone saying a database should be at the heart of an operating system. But it's the first time I've heard of anyone making a serious attempt to do it.

PostgreSQL and Databricks founders join forces for DBOS to create a new type of operating system - VentureBeat

#solidstatelife #computerscience #operatingsystems #databases

PostgreSQL and Databricks founders join forces for DBOS to create a new type of operating system

DBOS was developed to address the challenges of managing the massive state of modern operating systems.

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waynerad@diasp.org
Wayne Radinsky

Redox is a Unix-like Operating System written in Rust. Apparently the project was started in 2015 and I only just now heard about it. However they still say it is alpha/beta quality software, not ready for daily usage yet. The name "Redox" refers to the chemical reaction (reduction-oxidation) that creates rust. Get it? The programming language is Rust and "Redox" also sounds Unix-y.

Redox is a microkernel architecture, unlike Linux or any other Unix (including Mac which uses BSD Unix under the hood) or Windows (which is VMS-like under the hood). The microkernel architecture is said to provide "true modularity". "You can modify/change many system components without a system restart, similar to but safer than livepatching."

"By isolating the system components from the kernel, the attack surface is very limited."

"The Rust compiler helps the programmer to avoid memory errors and race conditions, which reduces the probability of data corruption bugs." "The microkernel design written in Rust protects against memory defects that one might see in C/C++ programs." "Drivers written in Rust are likely to have fewer bugs and are therefore more secure."

"Redox uses RedoxFS as the default filesystem. It supports similar features as ZFS with a written-in-Rust implementation. Expect high performance and data safety (copy-on-write, data integrity, volumes, snapshots, hardened against data loss)."

Redox - Your Next(Gen) OS

#solidstatelife #rust #operatingsystems

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waynerad@diasp.org
Wayne Radinsky

Huawei devices now run HarmonyOS. "Since its introduction, the software has been receiving backlash from the media, especially from non-Chinese. HarmonyOS is criticized as an Android clone. However, Huawei has been denying this since the beginning. Recently, the man behind the software reaffirmed that HarmonyOS is different."

"Mr. Wang Chenglu goes by 'Father of HarmonyOS' in China."

"Unlike Android and iOS, HarmonyOS is designed for multiple devices. It is a unified OS that supports flexible deployment."

"The software uses AOSP (Android Open Source Project) components, which comprise code from the open-source community."

I first heard of HarmonyOS (called Hongmeng in Chineseand not to be confused with SerenityOS) in 2019, following news about the US Department of Commerce putting restrictions on Huawei (due to its doing business with Iran in violation of sanctions), and figured Huawei started development on it in response to US government restrictions and rhetoric, but apparently development on HarmonyOS actually began in 2012.

HarmonyOS is said to be a multikernel operating system, which means it treats a multi-core machine as a network of independent cores, as if it were a distributed system. Which seems whacky to me, and likely to make your system unnecessarily complicated. But maybe they thought of some way I don't know about to extend that to a multi-computer distributed system more easily than usual. Usually making a distributed system is hard. But maybe having a inter-process message-passing system built directly into the OS, using that for communication on one machine, and extending that system to communicating off the machine, makes it easier for Huawei to achieve their goal of making it easy for "Internet of Things" devices to communicate with Android devices that use the AOSP project as noted, and regular computers, network components that Huawei makes like network routers, and other devices. My experience is that local communications and remote communications should be treated differently, because when engaging in remote communications, there's encoding and error conditions that don't apply in the local case.

#solidstatelife #computerscience #operatingsystems #huawei

https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/01/03/harmonyos-neither-android-nor-ios/

HarmonyOS is neither Android nor iOS: Father of HarmonyOS - Gizmochina

Huawei devices now run HarmonyOS. Since its introduction, the software has been receiving backlash from the media, especially from non-Chinese. HarmonyOS is criticized as an Android clone. However, Huawei has been denying this since the beginning....

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novimatrem@pluspora.com
Novimatrem Whitehat

Okay round 2- do you know of any x86_64 operating systems for desktops, laptops, etc, that aren’t;

Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, ReactOS, Haiku, SerenityOS, Debian-Hurd, and Redox?

I’d like to expand my knowledge even further, please inform me if you know, or if I've missed anything!

#x86_64 #operatingsystems #operating #systems #64bit #desktop #laptop #desktops #laptops #computers #computing #windows #mac #linux #bsd #reactos #haiku #question #OS #knowledge #information #tech

novimatrem@pluspora.com
Novimatrem Whitehat

I'm going to be spending some more time with the #BSD , #ReactOS , and #Haiku #operatingsystems - this week. They've always been seen as the underdogs compared to #Windows , #macOS , and #Linux - from what I can tell, which is sad.

In my opinion, BSD is the closest to "making it" as a daily driver operating system, for me, and maybe for quite a few people, I like the #GhostBSD distro the best, it's what I've been using the most so far.

I do very much value the goals of ReactOS, but I don't believe it's anywhere near "there" yet when it comes to its stability, featureset, and compatibility, but I do hope that one day it will get there, if it gains enough traction with developers and donations/funding.

Haiku is really promising with its recent developments, but still does need more work. It's quite stable, but I have had some issues with it, on some hardware. It has seen a lot of work recently, from what I can tell, and I do hope it goes places more in the future.

If I had to rank them from best most-stable daily-driver, down to worst-not-yet-viable, I'd have to say BSD wins, with Haiku second, and ReactOS last.

They're very good promising operating systems, and I don't see them talked about anywhere near as much as I wish I did, perhaps you should try them out in a #VM #virtualmachine ..? Would be an interesting way to spend an afternoon, if you're nerdy like me~