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MINIX 3: a Modular, Self-Healing POSIX-compatible Operating System

FOSDEM

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  • Recommended by 4 people: 4 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by Andrew Tanenbaum, creator of MINIX

Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.

89K views16 years ago4 recommendations

Systems programmingSoftware designOperating systemsSoftware architectureFault tolerance and failure

Andrew Tanenbaum explains the architecture of MINIX 3, focusing on its self-healing capabilities and microkernel reliability.

By Andrew Tanenbaum MINIX started in 1987 and led to several offshoots, the best known being Linux. MINIX 3 is the third major version of MINIX and is now focused on very high-reliability and security. MINIX started in 1987 and led to several offshoots, the best known being Linux. MINIX 3 is the third major version of MINIX and is now focused on very high-reliability and security. When you buy a TV set, you just plug it in and it works perfectly for the next 10 year. We are trying to make operating systems as good as that. The current version of MINIX 3 can detect device driver crashes and some server crashes and automatically replace the failed component without user intervention and without affecting running processes. The talk will discuss these aspects as well as new work. FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Development European Meeting) is a European event centered around Free and Open Source software development. It is aimed at developers and all interested in the Free and Open Source news in the world. Its goals are to enable developers to meet and to promote the awareness and use of free and open source software. More info at fosdem.org

Why it's here

4 people recommend this

What people say. Engineers recommend this talk as an accessible introduction to microkernels, fault-tolerant architectures, and self-healing operating systems.

TallGuyShorton Hacker News • Recommends

On “Ask HN: What's the best technical talk you've heard?”

Andrew Tanenbaum presenting on Minix 3's architecture: link to this video . Regardless of one's opinions on microkernels vs. monolithic kernels, it's a very interesting but accessible talk for those interested in lower-level systems and fault-tolerant architectures.
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thirstehon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Minix 3.2.1 Released”

It's also for security. If you find a security vulnerability in e.g. the sound driver, you're not going to get root access. Andrew Tanenbaum explains it well: link to this video
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noblethrasheron Hacker News • Recommends

On “What are the advantages of the Hurd over Linux/BSD? (2013)”

Here's Andy Tannenbaum's response to the performance issues of microkernels: link to this video (should start at about 47:15)
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shangxiaoon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Hobby kernel and userspace, built mostly from scratch”

Writing OS's is hard and there are no shortcuts. You should take a look at microkernels and the work Andrew Tanenbaum did with Minix 3 1 and his modular design as this is the sort of direction you're probably looking for with customisable OS's. 1 link to this video
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carussellon Hacker News • Mentions

On “A reimplementation of NetBSD using a MicroKernel (2015)”

(2015) Previously: link And see 1, my note about this talk being more or less the same as the 2010 Minix talk at FOSDEM2. If you saw that one, or any other talk by Tanenbaum of that period, I'll spoil it for you: there's nothing substantially different in this talk. 1. link 2. link to this video
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nickpsecurityon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Ask HN: Best practices for self-healing apps?”

Here's you some examples to learn from. Most are old enough that patents have expired: Why Do Computers Stop and What Can Be Done About It? (1985) link Their NonStop Architecture link QNX's systems are ultra-reliable, too link OpenVMS clusters' uptime was years to decades & mixed CPU ISA's link Systems that run forever and self-heal (Armstrong) link Microreboots link Minix 3: Microkernel-based, self-healing, POSIX OS link to this video
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