News item for version 19.11

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Genode News Genode News
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Genode OS Framework release 19.11 | 2019-11-28
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| Following this year's theme of "bridging worlds", Genode 19.11 adds the
| ability to use popular build tools like CMake for application development,
| introduces a new virtual-machine monitor for 64-bit ARM, and enhances
| POSIX compatibility. As another highlight, it features the first version
| of our custom block-device encrypter.
Block-device encryption is a feature often requested by users of our Sculpt OS.
Until now, we deliberately left this topic unaddressed because we felt that a
profound answer was beyond our expertise. However, during the past year, we
dived deep into it. The result is the prototype for a new block encrypter that
encrypts data but also protects integrity and freshness. For us, the
implementation of the encrypter is especially intriguing because - with about
7000 lines of code - it is Genode's first non-trivial component written in the
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARK_(programming_language) - SPARK]
programming language.
The second major addition is a new virtual machine monitor (VMM) for 64-bit
ARM platforms such as the NXP i.MX8. It leverages the
[https://genode.org/documentation/articles/arm_virtualization - proof of concept]
we developed in 2015 for ARMv7, which we pursued as a technology exploration.
In contrast, our aspiration with the new VMM is a product-quality solution.
In our [https://genode.org/about/road-map - road map] for 2019, we stated
the "bridging of worlds" as our overall theme for this year. On that account,
the current release moves the project forward on two levels. First, by
successively increasing the scope of POSIX compatibility, we reduce the
friction when porting existing application software to Genode. We managed
to bridge several gaps in our POSIX support that we considered as impossible
to cover some years ago. In particular, we identified ways to emulate certain
POSIX signals, ioctl calls, and fork/execve semantics. This way, popular
software such as bash, coreutils, or Vim can now be executed as regular
Genode components with no additional runtime environment (like Noux or a VMM)
required.
At a higher level, the current release introduces new tooling especially
geared at the development and porting of application software. Compared to
Genode's regular development tools, which were designed for whole-system
development, the new tool called Goa relieves the developer from the
complexity of Genode's custom build system and instead promotes the use of
popular commodity solutions like CMake.
These and more topics are described in the
[https:/documentation/release-notes/19.11 - release documentation of version 19.11...]
Genode OS Framework release 19.08 | 2019-08-28 Genode OS Framework release 19.08 | 2019-08-28
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