[colug-432] Unix Is The Last Operating System

[Chris Embree]

vmWare did start something like this several years ago.  The abandoned it
pretty quickly.  The concept was that you would write Apps against the VM
container and skip the OS.  Didn't find anything in quick Google search,
maybe it'll come to me after I quit thinking about it.

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:09 PM, Stephen Potter <spp at unixsa.net> wrote:

> On 6/17/2015 11:18 AM, Rob Funk wrote:
> > If you consider the Linux kernel to be the hypervisor, that's starting
> > to sound like Docker and similar Container systems. You could set
> > things up so that the host only has enough to run the containers, and
> > all applications run in containers - which in turn each contain
> > nothing that's not necessary for running that application.
>
> Truthfully, I am thinking of more of vSphere/ESXi due to its prevalence
> in the market and its wider ecosystem.  Containers are not really
> changing the paradigm I'm thinking about, because they are still heavily
> wedded to the traditional Linux OS concept.  You still have a really big
> underlying OS without the application itself taking on the higher level
> functionality.
>
> > I think many of the things you want to get rid of will long remain
> > useful security and system management tools. You risk throwing things
> > out only to see them gradually added back in (reinvented poorly).
>
> The point is to remove the necessity for the security and management
> tools.  If you are dealing with virtual applications that have a single
> function, where do you need much of this?  Think of the specialized
> hardware appliances we have - network functions, security functions,
> telephony, digital signage, cameras, satellite receivers.  Many of them
> are based on embedded Windows or Linux distributions, but do they truly
> need all the complexity of a complete kernel and OS, or would it be
> possible to embed that functionality directly into the application.
>
> > "Not a traditional filesystem" means yet another filesystem, optimized
> > for the specific purpose at hand. You'll have different filesystems
> > for different purposes.
>
> Yes, and as I mentioned, you already see this specifically from DB
> systems, where they want a raw device to manage for performance reasons.
>
> > There's been speculation and observance over the last few years that
> > the traditional PC is disappearing in favor of tablets and the like.
> > But there will always be people with specialized needs who aren't
> > served such devices -- for example, developers writing code for those
> > tablets and for the servers they rely on.
>
> Of course, there will always be the need for some generic OSes.  I was
> exaggerating a little when I said no need, but for many major
> application systems, when does it get to the point to make more sense to
> write to the hypervisor than to write to a specific OS?
>
> -spp
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