Hi Naiji, On 09/01/2017 03:39 PM, Naiji Ma wrote: > Hi everybody, > > > I would like to quote part of the official doc from [1]: > > /As illustrated in the figure, from an organizational point of view, a > virtual machine is implemented as a leaf node in Genode's process tree. > Genode not only facilitates the use of virtual machines for application > compatibility but also the re-use of existing device drivers. The baby > Tux in the figure symbolizes an original Linux device driver being > executed in a device-driver environment./ > > > [1] http://genode.org/documentation/general-overview/index > > > How to understand the 're-use' ? Does it mean that an > original(unmodified) Linux device driver could be placed into a > 'device-driver environment' and also function correctly in Genode, or > does it mean an original Linux device driver could be taken out from the > Linux virtual machine (the big Tux) and executed as a leaf node in > Genode, consequently serve Genode as well as the big Tux at the same time? >
The cited section explains the variety of approaches to re-use software in Genode, either by using a complete OS as foundation to run existing, unmodified applications, or to re-use a part of an existing OS like Linux in form of a device driver. The latter is typically done by using unmodified source files from an open-source OS together with a thin library - the corresponding 'device-driver environment' tailored for that specific driver. So to re-use device drivers we take the first approach that you described. Anyway, it is also possible in Genode to allow a virtual machine to access dedicated peripherals exclusively. Thereby the guest OS drives and makes use of the device. Nonetheless, I do not know of any existing Genode scenario where components, which run aside from a virtual-machine, make use of such a dedicated device driven by the guest OS, although this would be possible in theory. In contrast, we generally favour to keep the TCB of device driver small. I hope this clarifies your question. Regards Stefan > > Regards, > Naiji > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most > engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > > > > _______________________________________________ > genode-main mailing list > genode-main@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/genode-main > -- Stefan Kalkowski Genode Labs https://github.com/skalk ยท http://genode.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ genode-main mailing list genode-main@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/genode-main
