The release of the Sculpt 21.03 operating system has been announced, which is based on the Genode OS Framework technologies. It is designed to be used by regular users for everyday tasks. The project's source code is distributed under the AGPLv3 license. A LiveUSB image, sized at 27 MB, is available for download. It supports operation on systems with Intel processors and graphics subsystems with VT-d and VT-x extensions enabled.
The new release is notable for the following improvements:
- Increased fault tolerance in drivers, thanks to the development of the plug-in driver concept in Genode. For example, in case of a failure of graphics or wireless drivers, these drivers can be restarted without disrupting running applications and the network stack.
- The option for end users to configure scheduler priorities for running programs in real-time mode has been added. Users can prioritize applications sensitive to latency, such as multimedia processing programs over computing and virtualization programs.
- Interfaces have been added to redirect one component's interaction with the kernel to another component, allowing for services like dynamic CPU load balancing in user space.
- Interfaces have been added for screen capturing and inserting user input events, which may be useful for creating applications for screen sharing, remote control systems, and virtual keyboards.
- The ability to change the keyboard layout through the menu has been implemented.
- The Falkon browser has been updated based on the Chromium engine.
- Sorting of menu items and file lists has been added.
- Instant terminal window updates are ensured after global font setting changes.
- On modern Intel-based computers, performance modes HWP (Hardware P-States) are used for managing power consumption and temperature control.
The system comes with the Leitzentrale graphical interface, allowing typical system administration tasks to be performed. In the top left corner of the graphical interface, a menu with tools for managing users, connecting storage devices, and configuring network connections is displayed. In the center, there is a configurator for assembling the system's components, providing a graph-like interface that defines the relationships between system components. Users can interactively remove or add components to define the system environment's composition. of virtual machines.
At any time, the user can switch to the console management mode, which offers greater flexibility in management. A traditional desktop can be obtained by launching the TinyCore Linux distribution. virtual machine with Linux. In this environment, the Firefox and Aurora browsers, a Qt-based text editor, and various applications are available. Command line utilities are provided in a noux environment.
Genode provides a unified infrastructure for creating custom applications that run on top of the Linux kernel (32-bit and 64-bit) or microkernels like NOVA (x86 with virtualization), seL4 (x86_32, x86_64, ARM), Muen (x86_64), Fiasco.OC (x86_32, x86_64, ARM), L4ka::Pistachio (IA32, PowerPC), OKL4, L4/Fiasco (IA32, AMD64, ARM), and a core that runs directly for ARM and RISC-V platforms. The paravirtualized Linux kernel L4Linux, operating on top of the Fiasco.OC microkernel, enables the execution of standard Linux programs in Genode. L4Linux does not interface directly with hardware but uses Genode services through a set of virtual drivers.
Various Linux and BSD components have been ported to Genode, ensuring support for Gallium3D, integrating Qt, GCC, and WebKit, and enabling the organization of hybrid Linux/Genode software environments. A port of VirtualBox has been prepared, which operates on top of the NOVA microkernel. A large number of applications have been adapted to run directly atop the microkernel and the Noux environment, which provides OS-level virtualization. For unported programs, there is a mechanism for creating application-level virtual environments that allows programs to run in a virtual Linux environment using paravirtualization.
Source: opennet.ru
