Road map 2016
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Norman Feske
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doc/road_map.txt
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doc/road_map.txt
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@ -14,56 +14,99 @@ The road map is not fixed. If there is commercial interest of pushing the
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Genode technology to a certain direction, we are willing to revisit our plans.
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Review of 2014
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Review of 2015
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##############
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Most of the progress in 2014 was motivated by our goal to use
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Genode as general-purpose OS on x86-based platforms. To highlight a
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few achievements, we started to use [http://rumpkernel.org/ - Rump kernels]
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as file-system providers, enabled VirtualBox on NOVA, pulled off the
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engineering feat to run the Intel Wireless stack natively on microkernels, and
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came up with a new GUI architecture. We regard these features as the
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groundwork to make Genode a feasible platform for day-to-day computing.
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In the beginning of 2015, we declared four main topics to work on, namely
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Genode as general-purpose OS, our custom base-hw kernel platform, thorough
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documentation, and the seL4 kernel. It goes without saying that the stability
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and performance of the base system is a fundamental requirement for the first
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topic.
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That said, even though we are proud about the progress, we are still not there
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yet. So what keeps us back? The answer is actually not technical. Most
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developments over the past years were concerned with individual features or
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technical challenges. But the integration of sophisticated system scenarios
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was a rare occurrence. For the most part, such integration activities were
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solely triggered by a particular project or by a presentation. In order to
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make Genode fit for regular use, we need to make the composing of advanced
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systems a habit for most of the regular developers.
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In mid of 2015, we eventually reached the point where a hand full of
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developers started using Genode as their day-to-day OS in the form of the
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so-called
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[https://github.com/genodelabs/genode/issues/1552 - Turmvilla scenario].
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By the end of the year, the performance, stability, and device-driver support
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had reached a level that leaves people impressed every time we have the chance
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to show off our system. Once people become interested, the Genode Foundations
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book - published in Spring - provides a smooth introduction into Genode. The
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Turmvilla scenario is currently based on the NOVA kernel. For the future, we
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want to use also other kernels, in particular our custom base-hw kernel and
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seL4. Thanks to the contribution of
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[http://codelabs.ch - Codelabs], base-hw became usable on the 64-bit x86
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architecture and on the Muen separation kernel in particular. With our work
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on seL4, we reached the point where basic Genode scenarios are executable
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on this kernel.
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After having passed the point where a few enthusiasts are able to use Genode
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as day-to-day OS, we should put the emphasis of 2016 on
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ways to make Genode accessible for a wider community.
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Big picture for 2015
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Big picture for 2016
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####################
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On the account of this realization, the overall theme of 2015 will be the
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consolidation and cultivation of the existing feature set rather than the
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conquering of new grounds. This implies the following topics:
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We identified two possible ways to extend the Genode community.
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* Advancing our automated test and integration infrastructure towards
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the continuous integration of real-world system scenarios,
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* Fostering good-quality documentation,
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* Optimization of performance and stability,
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* Improvement of our tooling
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By community we refer to two groups of people. The first group are
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maker-minded people with a strong incentive to build things. By publishing a
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series of step-by-step guides that explain how to put Genode components
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together in order to create custom system scenarios, we intend to spark
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interest of system builders in Genode. Those articles could be accompanied by
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screencasts or live-system images.
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Furthermore, we have to address outstanding limitations of the most
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commonly used base platforms, namely base-hw and NOVA. I.e., only
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with kernel-protected capabilities, base-hw can be considered as a viable
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base platform for security-critical systems, and only with proper
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kernel-resource management, NOVA can be recommended as a kernel for
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general-purpose computing.
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The second group are certain end users with a strong desire for privacy and
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security. We expect this narrow user group to willingly trade the comfort and
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features of traditional desktop OSes for the benefits of Genode. We plan to
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showcase a system with practical value for this group, for example a
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disposable OS like Tails that allows the user to browse the internet via the
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Tor network.
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Besides the cultivation of the existing feature set, there will still be room
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for new things. We are particularly excited about the prospect of combining
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Genode with the [http://sel4.systems - seL4 kernel] and
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the [http://nixos.org/nix/ - Nix package manager]. Furthermore, we desire to
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continue the work on our new GUI architecture towards a capability-based
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desktop environment.
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In this spirit, the leitmotif for 2016 will be: Let us make Genode accessible
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to the world outside the inner circle of us enthusiasts.
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On a technical level, this motive implicates the following topics:
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* The deployment, management, and configuration of Genode systems, i.e., by
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bringing forward our work on the Nix package manager and by fostering
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dynamic configurability. This direction also reinforces the need to achieve
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binary compatibility between the various base platforms to make the
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distribution of binary packages, reproducible builds, and continuous test
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and integration scalable.
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* Accommodation of common desktop use cases like plugging in a USB
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stick to work with the files stored on it. Also disk encryption comes
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into mind.
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* Optimization of Genode for the use on a laptop, e.g., addressing
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fan control, power management, suspend/resume, and similar features.
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* Identifying ways of how Genode could contribute additional value to
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Xen-based environments like Amazon EC2 and Qubes OS.
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* Foster the cross-pollination of the seL4 and Genode communities.
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Genode would allow the seL4 community to move beyond static system
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scenarios.
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* As most use cases rely on networking, we acknowledge the need for
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improving Genode's network support such as NAT, the robustness of the
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available TCP/IP stacks and drivers, encryption, and possibly IPv6.
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* Genode as distributed system, e.g., a system spread over multiple FPGA-based
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softcore CPUs, over multiple domains of the Muen separation kernel, or a
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local machine and a cloud-service provider.
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Assuming that we succeed in drawing the attention of a broader audience
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to our project, we should make sure that Genode's API won't undergo
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major changes soon after this point. Today, there are still a number of
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deficiencies in the current API. We should finalize the renovation of
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the Genode API until the mid of 2016. This will also be right the time for
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updating the Genode book. Also, the planned step-by-step guides will
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be based on the modernized API.
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Milestones for 2015
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Milestones for 2016
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###################
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In the following, we present a rough schedule of the planned work. As usual,
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@ -71,38 +114,41 @@ it is not set in stone. If you are interested in a particular line of work,
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please get in touch.
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February - Release 15.02
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February - Release 16.02
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========================
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* ARM virtualization on top of the base-hw kernel
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* Modularized tooling for automated tests
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* RISC-V architecture support
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* seL4 version 2.0
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* Assignment of USB devices to VirtualBox guests
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* API modernization (introduction of new component API, deprecation
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of API legacies)
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May - Release 15.05
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May - Release 16.05
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===================
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* Comprehensive documentation of the Genode foundations
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* Kernel-protected capabilities for the base-hw kernel
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* seL4 microkernel as base platform
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* Refined platform-driver architecture (support for MSIs, assignment of
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I/O resources to drivers, standardized configuration)
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* VirtualBox on top of the Muen separation kernel
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* Update of the Genode Foundations book
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* NAT component
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* API modernization (removal of API legacies)
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* Definition of "packages"
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August - Release 15.08
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August - Release 16.08
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======================
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* Capability-based desktop environment allowing the interactive installation
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and management of Genode subsystems and the interaction with files
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* Accommodation of typical desktop-computing tasks (e.g., email)
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* Interactive tools for observing the system behavior
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* NOVA kernel-resource management
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* Cross-kernel binary compatibility
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* Interactive system scenarios on top of seL4
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* Networking via Tor
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* Block encryption
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* Build-system support for handling packages
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November - Release 15.11
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November - Release 16.11
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========================
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* Achieving cross-kernel binary compatibility
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* Package management
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* Modern web browser
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* Genode on top of Xen
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* Exploration of Genode as distributed system
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* Deployment of packages
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* On-target building of packages
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