================================================ Genode Labs Newsletter - October / November 2020 ================================================ Content 1. Genode OS Framework 20.11 released 2. Microkernel developer room at virtual FOSDEM 2021 1. Genode OS Framework 20.11 released ------------------------------------- The year is coming to an end, but not before we publish another Genode release: https://genode.org/news/genode-os-framework-release-20.11 One year ago, we envisioned running our Sculpt operating system on 64-bit ARM hardware. Genode 20.11 made this vision a reality. Thanks to the intensive development work on the framework's driver architecture for ARM platforms and a zoo of drivers for one concrete SoC - namely NXP's i.MX8 - we are happy to announce that the Sculpt system that we enjoy using on our PC laptops has now become able to run on the i.MX8 EVK board. It goes without saying that more boards are to follow. The second highlight of version 20.11 is the new ability to balance CPU workloads among multiple CPU cores in a dynamic fashion. This is an important feature for hosting complex multi-threaded application software such as web browsers. Our solution greatly benefits from Genode's architecture, which ultimately allows us to implement a variety of CPU-balancing strategies without adding complexity to the operating-system kernel. Besides those two major topics, the release features many further improvements ranging from reworked audio support, over multicore virtualization on ARM, to power management on PC hardware. All the details are described in the official release documentation: https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/20.11 2. Microkernel developer room at virtual FOSDEM 2021 ---------------------------------------------------- Every year, we are looking forward to the microkernel developer room at the FOSDEM conference, usually held at the beginning of February in Brussels. As with all kinds of conferences where big crowds of people are gathering, the next edition of FOSDEM cannot take place in its usual format. However, once the FOSDEM organizers decided to hold an online event and asked for participation, Martin Decky of the HelenOS project took the initiative to apply for an online microkernel developer room. End of November, he announced that his proposal was accepted: https://lists.fosdem.org/pipermail/microkernel-devroom/2020-November/000166.html Even though a virtual event can not be expected to live up to a physical presence, it gives us a certain degree of continuity and upholds the sense of community among the various projects. The latter is especially important for the Free-Software projects like ours. We very much appreciate Martin's engagement! Everyone working on (or with) open-source microkernel technology, please consider participating. The best starting point would be tracking the microkernel-devroom mailing list linked above. About the newsletter -------------------- If you have friends or colleagues who might be interested in our projects, we would appreciate you to forward this email. If you received this newsletter as a forwarded email, you may subscribe to the newsletter here: https://genode-labs.com/newsletter In the case of receiving this newsletter unintended, you can cancel your subscription at any time by replying to this email with the subject set to "unsubscribe". Best regards -- Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske Genode Labs https://www.genode-labs.com/ · https://genode.org/ https://twitter.com/GenodeLabs · /ˈdʒiː.nəʊd/ Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth
