Genode OS Live CD boots Linux as Browser Plugin Nov 22, 2010

With the November release of the Genode Live CD, we showcase a new level of integration of device drivers, Qt4, OpenGL, and virtualized Linux on our platform.

With features like running Linux as a browser plugin, 3D hardware acceleration, sound support, and a complete networking infrastructure, this year's bootable Live CD of the Genode OS Framework is a great leap forward from the past releases of the OS construction framework.

Whereas the previous release demonstrated the ability of the framework to run on multiple microkernels, this release focuses on scenarios that show Genode's progress in becoming a real general purpose environment. The Live CD boots in less than 10 seconds (on VirtualBox) to a fully functional GUI with a selection of five demo subsystems.

Each subsystem highlights a different aspect of the framework. A paravirtualized Linux, seamlessly integrated into Genode's native Nitpicker GUI, can be found right next to native Qt4/Webkit applications. The port of the Arora web browser stands out for featuring a plugin that can execute arbitrary Genode subsystems in a secure way. This tech demo features multiple browser-embedded application including a complete Linux system, streaming a disk image live over HTTP from a web server. Another subsystem runs the famous gears OpenGL demo via the native port of Gallium3D/Mesa, offering hardware support on Intel GMA GPUs.

Furthermore the CD executes a range of new drivers and features not present in the last release. As kernel OKL4 v2 was chosen.

Learn more about the Genode Live CD...

Software Freedom Day 2010 Sep 02, 2010

On 17th of September, Genode will be presented at the Software Freedom Day 2010 in Amsterdam.

We are happy about having been invited to present Genode at this year's Software Freedom Day, which will take place on 17th of September at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) at the Science Park in Amsterdam. The event aims to bring government, business, and education together to support and promote Open-Source and Free Software, open standards, open file formats, and open hardware. With our presentation we will introduce the Genode OS Framework to the community. If you are interested in gathering with Open-Source enthusiasts or to get in touch with us, please join this event. The entrance is free.

Visit the website of Software Freedom Day 2010...

Genode OS Framework version 10.08 released Aug 11, 2010

Version 10.08 of our framework comes with support for hardware-accelerated graphics, wireless networking, and block devices.

With the just released version 10.08, which introduces support for Gallium3D and MadWifi, Genode's device-driver support reaches a new level. Alongside Gallium3D, the project has also ported Intel's graphics execution manager (GEM) for Intel GMA GPUs. To broaden the application area of Genode for network communication, we added the MadWifi communication stack to the framework, thereby enabling the use of a broad range of wireless network devices. Among the many further improvements of the current release are the update of Qt4 to version 4.6.3, a new block-device infrastructure including an ATAPI block driver and ISO 9660 file system, as well as support for dynamic linking on platforms using ARM EABI.

Read on about these and more improvements in the release notes of version 10.08...

Genode OS Framework version 10.05 released May 28, 2010

Version 10.05 of our operating-system framework introduces mandatory access control, adds sound support, and advances the integration with the paravirtualized OKLinux kernel.

Following our regular three-months release cycle for the Genode OS Framework, we have published the version 10.05 of the Genode OS Framework. Among the major new features are a new concept for imposing mandatory access control to Genode components. Furthermore, we added drivers and interfaces needed for playing and mixing sound streams on popular PC sound hardware, and extended the integration of the paravirtualized OKLinux kernel with native Genode services. As an important milestone on our way towards shaping Genode to a general-purpose OS, the new release features the Webkit-based Arora web browser running as a Genode process.

Read the full story about these and many more improvements in the release notes of version 10.05...

Genode OS Framework version 10.02 released Feb 24, 2010

With the addition of the Codezero and NOVA kernels as base platforms, our framework for building specialized component-based operating systems strives to capture new application areas.

The new release 10.02 of the Genode OS Framework is available. With this release, the project further broadens the field of applications for Genode by introducing support for two new kernels: the Codezero kernel and the NOVA hypervisor. The former is primarily targeted at ARM platforms, the latter at x86 virtualization. Moreover, there is a new management concept for real-time priorities, which can be used in conjunction with the real-time schedulers of the L4ka::Pistachio and OKL4 kernels. Beside many improvements and refinements of the existing parts of the framework, we incorporated the initial port of the Python script interpreter into this release.

The substantial base-platform enhancements introduced with the current release are motivated by our goal to establish the framework as a unified development environment for implementing dynamic workload on microkernel-based system and at the same time enable users to benefit from the strengths of the different kernels.

Read on about the new base platforms and the many improvements of the framework in the release notes for version 10.02...

Genode Labs leaves behind its infancy Jan 29, 2010

Our company changes its legal status from GbR to GmbH.

In spring 2008, Genode Labs was founded with the simplest legal status possible, a loose bond of two persons, in Germany called Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts (GbR). This provided an unbureaucratic, cheap, and quick way to get our business going. In December, we left this stage behind and changed the legal status to "Gesellschaft mit beschränker Haftung" (GmbH), which is comparible with a british Limited and the most common legal status used for private companies in Germany. For us this important symbolic step marks the completion of the initial bootstrapping procedure of our venture.