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Live Demo CD of Microkernel-Based TUD:OS Released

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the yet-another-contender-in-the-os-sweepstakes dept.

Norman Feske writes "The OS Group of Technische Universität Dresden (TUD:OS) has released a live demo CD of their custom operating system project. TUD:OS is a microkernel-based operating system targeted at secure and real-time systems. Some highlights of the demo CD include a new approach for securing graphical user interfaces called Nitpicker, multiple L4Linux kernels running at the same time on top of a custom L4 microkernel, a survey on the reuse of device drivers on the TUD:OS platform, native Qt-applications, the DOpE windowing system, games, and a lot more. More information is available at the demo CD website demo.tudos.org. And yes, there are screenshots, too!"

14 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. you convinced me by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...the DOpE windowing system...

    That's all I needed right there. I'm checking this out right now.

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  2. TURD OS by Anoraknid+the+Sartor · · Score: 3, Funny

    so near, and yet so far....

    --
    Find Japanese addresses in English on Google Maps Japan: http://diddlefinger.com/
  3. FINALLY! by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hurray for TUD:OS! Kudos for actually managing to get a functional but custom operating system into working live-CD form.

    The system architecture looks fine and dandy (L4 is a pretty good base microkernel), and I love the capability to make this system perform 9 different scenarios, including running L4Linux for when they lack their own software.

    Mazl tov!

  4. If they managed to create something like this... by 10Ghz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why is HURD still nowhere near finished (as in: ready to be used)?

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    Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
  5. Anyone have a torrent? by jarom · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anyone have a torrent, or has downloaded the ISO and can make one?

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    This signature is far too complex to have been created by chance.
  6. Trusted computing by js_sebastian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This kind of thing goes to show that an OS designed for security can provide it without the need for the so called "trusted computing": the user can still have the machine entirely under your own control.. programs can be isolated from each other so that keylogging and other spyware techniques do not work, but the user can still do what the hell he wants with his machine (including tampering with the "secure" applications he is using if he wants to).

  7. TurdOS, Dope by zerojoker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and I always thought that germans are known to have no sense of humor...

  8. Explanation of the naming by Florian · · Score: 4, Informative

    "TUD:OS" is simply an acronym of "Technical University Dresden Operating System". Their computer science department has done amazing work on the l4 microkernel, and continues to release all its code under free licenses, btw.

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    gopher://cramer.plaintext.cc http://cramer.plaintext.cc:70
  9. Re:If they managed to create something like this.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They keep having to rewrite it, because the hardware is improving faster than the ability of EMACS to bog it down.

  10. Re:It's German, eh ? by LightningBolt! · · Score: 3, Funny

    So why do the turn indicators on Mercs and BMWs never work?

    Based purely on observation, I'd guess it has something to do with radio interference from the drivers' cell phones.

    --
    Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
  11. I trust myself. by js_sebastian · · Score: 5, Insightful
    That's assuming the user can be trusted
    I don't care if they trust me. I'm the one buying the computer and I trust myself to use it however I see fit (and if I break any laws with it I can be tried for it, same as with my kitchen knife if I use it to stab someone).

    Aside from this, it's true that having a hardware safe for cryptographic private keys (the fritz chip) is sound from a security perspective (while takign control of what the chip will or will not sign away from the user is bad).

    The reason I was comparing this TUD OS with TC is that the intel and AMD TC platforms both implement memory curtaining to isolate programs from one another, which this project seems to do quite nicely with a software-only solution.

    And let me rebuke this OT but blatantly false line:
    DRM is irrelevent to those who don't possess or have any intention of possessing illegal copyrighted content.
    It is relevant to anyone who has any interest to legally buying content which is sold with DRM restrictions. Even in the best of worlds, where the content sellers play nice, DRM stops me from playing something I bought from company X on anything but the players approved by company X. (iTunes audio files on anything but an iPod?). And if company X goes out of buisness or just decides not to support that format anymore you may be unable to play those files ever again.

    And in the real world, companies which can effectively write a different copyright law for each piece of content will use this to their advantage and to the user's disadvantage: to milk more money by selling the same stuff multiple times, and to hinder interoperability in anti-competitive ways.
  12. Re:Trusted Complaining. by onkelonkel · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "DRM is irrelevent to those who don't possess or have any intention of possessing illegal copyrighted content."

    Wow, is that statement ever wrong. As wrong as could be. "None more wrong"

    Generally DRM only affects legitimate users. If I buy a copy protected CD I get the DRM. If I download the same music from shareaza - No DRM. DRM is very relevant when it prevents legal purchasers of content from legitimate "fair use" of that content. If DRM means I can't rip the CD I just bought to put the music on my MP3 player, or make a backup copy of my kid's DVDs then it is most certainly relevant.

    On the other hand DRM is at most an inconvenience to hackers , pirates and other users of "illegal copyrighted content" . I can't think of one form of copy protection that hasn't been cracked.

    --
    None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
  13. HURD delays by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2006-03 /msg00091.html seems to indicate that the devs are still discussing HURD...

    ...of course HURD is the Gargantuan Ancient Granddaddy of Cathedral vs Bazaar style development ...

    http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/samizdat-respons e.html

    ...I can tell you exactly why the HURD tanked. It was listening to a presentation by HURD's project lead in 1996, and realizing the project was doomed, that started me on the train of thought that led to "The Cathedral and the Bazaar". They were trying to do engineering and pure R&D at the same time; they lacked focus or any drive to actually ship code; and their development group was too small and inbred.
  14. Re:Not impressed by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 3, Informative
    First, I had to install proprietary software, mvplayer, to run it.

    Wrong.

    It runs in qemu just fine. It's even described on their site how to do it.

    And you can always burn it onto a physical CD-Rom, and boot it up in a physical machine.

    several of the demos didn't supply a "reboot" option so I had to exit the whole thing, delete the vmware files, except the vmx, and refire wmplayer so I could get the tudos menu again. It's been years since I've run a Linux distro that was this buggy or hard to use.

    It's a CD-based demo, so your vmware files won't have "state" in them anyways. Just kill your vmware, and restart it, without wiping any files.