========================================= Genode Labs Newsletter - April / May 2021 ========================================= Content 1. Genode OS Framework 21.05 released 2. Guidance for porting Genode to a new SoC 3. Encrypted file storage for Sculpt OS 1. Genode OS Framework 21.05 released ------------------------------------- End of May, we released the version 21.05 of the Genode OS Framework. This version puts the support for Webcams and file encryption into the spotlight. Both features benefit greatly from the framework's component architecture that fosters a precise separation of concerns, thereby bringing ease of use, high flexibility, and resilience under one hood. Besides these prominent features, the release puts emphasis on device drivers and platform support. The topics are ranging from USB, over I2C on i.MX8, over GPIO on Pine-A64, to networking on RISC-V. Furthermore, the framework has become ready to use on top of 64-bit ARM Linux. The new version is complemented by an updated tool chain based on GCC 10 and Binutils 2.36, profound performance optimizations, framework refinements, and new tooling for porting Linux drivers. All the topics outlined above are covered in great detail by the official release documentation: https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/21.05 2. Guidance for porting Genode to a new SoC ------------------------------------------- The porting of Genode to a new ARM SoC is a challenging under- taking that comes with a great deal of uncertainties, namely the inner functioning of overly complex hardware, picking appropriate tools and methodologies, taking informed decisions about porting versus developing drivers, and relating all this to Genode. Combined, these uncertainties pose a huge barrier. At Genode Labs, we have conquered this barrier a few times in the past, like recently for supporting the NXP i.MX8 SoC. However, the porting of Genode to new hardware should not be left as an activity exclusive to Genode Labs. In order to assist developers outside of Genode's inner circle with joining the effort and help the proliferation of Genode across diverse SoCs, we decided to publicly share our know-how. Over the past six months we have continuously published an article series called "Pine fun" on https://genodians.org that explains the process step by step. We have now curated the content of the accumulated articles into one coherent document called "Genode Platforms". https://genode.org/documentation/genode-platforms-21-05.pdf Similar to the established "Genode Foundations" book that receives annual updates, it will be a living document, to be enhanced according reader feedback and further practical steps. The initial version already covers a wealth of architectural and methodical insights that were not publicly available before, ranging from bare-bone hardware enablement, over low-level debugging, kernel-code organization and porting, user-level device drivers, cascaded access control to device resources, up to custom assistive tooling. 3. Encrypted file storage for Sculpt OS --------------------------------------- Over the course of the past two years, we continuously developed a custom solution for modern block encryption - the CBE library implemented in Ada/SPARK - and its integration into Genode. Even though we demonstrated this work in real-world scenarios like hosting a Linux VM on top of an encrypted block device, it still lacked stress-testing by a regular user base because its integration into an end-user system like Sculpt OS required tedious low-level wizardry. To encourage as many people as possible to stress the CBE in their daily work flows and thereby let it mature, we have now wrapped the CBE into a convenient package for Sculpt OS called "file vault". It is a graphical front end that aims at making the creation, use, and maintenance of a CBE-based encrypted file store as intuitive and secure as possible: https://genodians.org/m-stein/2021-05-17-introducing-the-file-vault The file vault is readily available as a package for the current version 21.03 of Sculpt OS. We invite all Sculpt users to give it a try. It goes without saying that we'd be more than happy to receive feedback on your experience with it. 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
