Hi jean-michel,
I watched the recommended talk by Timothy Roscoe from the 2021 OSDI conference regarding OS research and Heterogeneous operating systems. The speaker is an expert in this area and helped illuminate the current situation regarding hardware and operating systems.
https://youtu.be/36myc8wQhLo
In particular, it was noted that Linux, like other available operating systems, makes an assumption about the underlying computing hardware that is no longer true. The assumption is that the underlying hardware is Homogeneous and is a ccNUMA style architecture implemented in silicon. This assumption is based on a hardware perspective that dates from the 1980s and 1990s.
Mr. Roscoe makes clear that modern hardware is anything but such a simple architecture. He notes that modern silicon CPUs contain many different kinds of cores and include embedded operating systems that the "User" facing operating system has no knowledge of. We see these "System on Chip" (SOC) CPUs everywhere - ARM chips, Intel Chips, AMD Chips, etc.
This implication is startling since an end-user is left wondering what else is "running" on the hardware for which neither the OS (ex. Linux) nor the end-user has knowledge. In essence, what Mr. Roscoe is saying is that even the Linux OS is nothing more than a software abstraction layer masquerading as an Operating System since Linux is blind to what modern SOC CPUs are doing.
Based on your recommendation up-thread, I then went on to watch a talk by Norman Feske from the 2020 FOSDEM conference regarding the Sculpt OS.
https://youtu.be/vmgWgzeKAjU
I was duly impressed with what the Genode team has accomplished. The OS is Homogeneous in that it has a common toolchain, configuration, and architecture. The OS also leverages the benefits of micro-kernels to improve security through memory compartmentalization and virtualization. There is also the ability to customize, on a per-user / per-machine basis, the preferred OS components in use and their connectivity, as needed or desired by a particular use case or user preference. I have never seen this level of OS control and configuration in any other OS to date.
Despite all those benefits, Sculpt OS does not appear to address the more fundamental problem of Heterogeneous computing hardware raised by Mr. Roscoe i.e. embedded low-level hardware and hidden OSes running un-monitored on modern SOC CPUs.
Watching these video presentations leaves this "end-user" with the impression that any ability to own and control the computing environment is hopeless. If that conclusion is essentially correct, what can "end-users" do to protect themselves and their computing environment? Is the best that "end-users" can aspire to is a Sculpt-like OS with full knowledge that unknown other processes and activities are lurking within their SOC CPU computing devices? And finally, one wonders if it is truly time to leave the safety and security illusion of Linux and other 'nixes far behind?
Your thoughts are appreciated.