11–20 of 61 posts
Highly related: https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet “(Going to be) A microkernel that implements a WebAssembly "usermode" that runs in Ring 0.” It’s inspired by the Microsoft experiment Singularity OS.
I suggest some reading about Xerox PARC and ETHZ OSes.
JNode and CosmOS are also interesting ones.
WA in the kernel could lead to drivers being established as WA code with special interfaces. With safe interfaces to stuff like PCIe devices, the linux kernel could transform into a more hybrid kernel, similar to NT. Many funs to be had! I imagine it could also be useful to run user programs without having to switch rings all the time...
That is pretty much exactly what this project is aiming at:
"Cervus implements a WebAssembly "usermode" on top of the Linux kernel (which tries to follows the CommonWA specification), enabling wasm applications to run directly in ring 0, while still ensuring safety and security."
Having web assembly be a native subsystem... That's brilliant. Why has this not been attempted for Java or anything else for that matter? I guess you could count Microsoft's .NET implementation. In any case, you could extend this beyond just user mode. Currently the domain of safe ring0 execution is eBPF as far as I know, but this would be way more approachable and other operating systems could implement it. I've got…
Having web assembly be a native subsystem... That's brilliant. Why has this not been attempted for Java or anything else for that matter? I guess you could count Microsoft's .NET implementation. In any case, you could extend this beyond just user mode. Currently the domain of safe ring0 execution is eBPF as far as I know, but this would be way more approachable and other operating systems could implement it. I've got…
Isn't that what JVM actually is? Java subsystem for Linux/et. al?
Highly related: https://github.com/nebulet/nebulet “(Going to be) A microkernel that implements a WebAssembly "usermode" that runs in Ring 0.” It’s inspired by the Microsoft experiment Singularity OS.
Having web assembly be a native subsystem... That's brilliant. Why has this not been attempted for Java or anything else for that matter? I guess you could count Microsoft's .NET implementation. In any case, you could extend this beyond just user mode. Currently the domain of safe ring0 execution is eBPF as far as I know, but this would be way more approachable and other operating systems could implement it. I've got…
There have been CPUs which could execute Java bytecode directly…
And not just actual Java processors, ARM has/had an extension for that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazelle
Otherwise neat.
Do not run untrusted code at ring 0, regardless of software sandboxing technology. It's just too risky! Otherwise neat.
I'm not saying there may not be flaws in WebAssembly or what Cervus delivers.