Rafal Kupiec
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48 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
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title = 'About Exectos'
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date = 2024-06-16T12:12:40+02:00
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## About
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ExectOS aims to be a stable and flexible, general purpose operating system written from scratch. It is designed to be
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modular, maintainable and compatible with existing software. It implements a brand new XT architecture and features own
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native application interface. On the backend, it contains a powerful driver model between device drivers and the kernel,
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that enables kernel level components to be upgraded without a need to recompile all drivers.
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## XT Architecture
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ExectOS is a preemptive, reentrant multitasking operating system that implements the XT architecture which derives from
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NT™ architecture. It is modular, and consists of two main layers: kernel and user modes. Its' kernel mode has full
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access to the hardware and system resources and runs code in a protected memory area. It consists of executive services,
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which is itself made up on many modules that do specific tasks, a kernel and drivers. Unlike the NT™, system does
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not feature a separate Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) between the physical hardware and the rest of the OS. Instead, XT
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architecture integrates a hardware specific code with the kernel. The user mode is made up of subsystems and it has been
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designed to run applications written for many different types of operating systems. This allows us to implement any
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environment subsystem to support applications that are strictly written to the corresponding standard (eg. DOS, or POSIX).
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## Features
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* Completely free, Open Source and community-driven modern Operating System.
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* Native multiple architecture support. It runs on x86 and x86_64 and is portable to other architectures.
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* Hardware layer API allows for a single unified kernel. There is no need to maintain a separate kernel forks.
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* Uses a couple of ideas from other open source projects, but it’s our own ideas that really sets us apart and defines
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ExectOS. The majority of code is original, not forked.
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* Modular design for better compatibility with existing software and drivers, enabling binaries to remain compatible even
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when the core system is updated.
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* Own, XT drivers for commonly used devices as well as NT™ drivers compatibility layer for better hardware support.
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* Technical support directly from the architects and developers of the system.
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## Why
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* We believe, there is no ideal Operating System on the market. During ExectOS development, we try to bring most useful
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features known from existing solutions, while keeping compatibility with NT™ architecture at desired level.
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* Some of our ideas differ greatly from other projects and it is much easier if we do not have to fight legacy code and
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ideas.
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* We need the freedom to break things when necessary.
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## Goals
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* Keep the greatest advantages of the NT™ architecture, while implementing new features and technologies known from
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other Operating Systems.
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* Flexibility where it makes sense to provide flexibility.
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* Be able to deliver features that other non-commercial Operating Systems consider too ambitious.
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## Requirements
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ExectOS is in very early development stage, thus its requirements have been not specified yet. However according to its
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design, it requires a modern EFI enabled hardware. It is not possible currently to boot ExectOS on a legacy BIOS.
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