Wrong name [LWN.net]

Wrong name

Posted Jan 17, 2008 11:10 UTC (Thu) by jonth (subscriber, #4008)
In reply to: Wrong name by ms
Parent article: A kernel security hole

Yeah, let's rewrite the kernel in Java. Or C#. Or Haskell.

Can someone give me a mainstream example of a kernel written in anything other than C or
assembler? I would be surprised. Maybe someone's done one in C++, but it doesn't address the
concerns above.

J

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Kernels in other languages

Posted Jan 17, 2008 12:05 UTC (Thu) by tialaramex (subscriber, #21167) [Link]

Haiku (which possibly doesn't count as mainstream) uses lots of C++ including in the kernel
and device drivers.

It barely works (still isn't self-hosting after more than six years) and its performance is
miserable, but there you are, an example of something other than C or assembler.

Kernels in other languages

Posted Jan 17, 2008 12:20 UTC (Thu) by ms (subscriber, #41272) [Link]

There are 3 kernels in Haskell, in various states of development and/or (dis)repair.

House: http://programatica.cs.pdx.edu/House/
seL4: http://www.ertos.nicta.com.au/research/sel4/
Kinetic: http://www.ninj4.net/kinetic/

I think seL4 is the most active at the moment.

Kernels in other languages

Posted Jan 17, 2008 12:29 UTC (Thu) by jonth (subscriber, #4008) [Link]

Hardly mainstream, but I have to say I didn't expect to see anything in Haskell. I doff my
cap. Does anyone know how fast these things go?

Kernels in other languages

Posted Jan 17, 2008 15:14 UTC (Thu) by mrfredsmoothie (subscriber, #3100) [Link]

They go to 11.