
The KeyKOS Nanokernel Architecture (1992) - the_why_of_y
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~KeyKOS/NanoKernel/NanoKernel.html
======
agumonkey
Predecessor of CoyoteOS and its famous BitC language
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyotos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyotos)

~~~
ansible
Famous? I was on all the mailing lists... there weren't many participants.

The way ahead, at least in the short term, seems to be containerized apps on
top of Linux, as with Sandstorm:

[https://sandstorm.io/](https://sandstorm.io/)

I don't know if we'll ever get back to the original vision of very fine-
grained apps, with object-cap security baked into the language itself. It
would be nice... that would provide another level of security beyond what any
OS can provide.

~~~
agumonkey
Ha, well I wan't on the ML, and ok not mainstream famous but
[https://www.google.com/search?q=ltu+bitc](https://www.google.com/search?q=ltu+bitc)
yields a lot of discussion about it.

------
nnn
Here are some parts of the KeyKOS source code:
[http://css.csail.mit.edu/6.858/2011/readings/keykos/](http://css.csail.mit.edu/6.858/2011/readings/keykos/)

------
drallison
This is an important paper and should be read by anyone contemplating the
design of secure operating systems.

~~~
nickpsecurity
I agree. It's still more secure by design than any server OS in production
today.

------
nickpsecurity
Excellent system that exemplified effective use of the capability model.
Anyone aiming to learn or develop secure OS's should read on this plus look up
the successor for x86, EROS by Shapiro. EROS had a secure kernel, persistance,
robust network stack, and more secure GUI. Worth building on.

Note: Look up Coyotos kernel as they mention a few EROS attributes you might
improve or change.

------
NormH
I wrote many of the Keykos papers and can answer most questions you might
have. For instance, can sandstorm do confinement as described at [http://cap-
lore.com/CapTheory/Confine/](http://cap-lore.com/CapTheory/Confine/) ?

------
vezzy-fnord
Cached version if you're having trouble:
[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MXidqS...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MXidqSW64G0J:www.cis.upenn.edu/~KeyKOS/NanoKernel/NanoKernel.html)

~~~
885895
Proper archive version: [https://archive.is/nlKS](https://archive.is/nlKS)

