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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Friday, July 02, 2004

Linux kernel: Moving closer to Windows?

ZDNet UK: "Security and the way windowing is handled remain two of the diminishing differences between Linux and Windows, according to one of the main speakers at Microsoft's developer conference. At Microsoft's Tech Ed conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday, a session was devoted to how, according to one Microsoft fan at least, the Linux kernel is beginning to resemble, well -- Windows. The talk, given by Mark Russinovich, chief software architect for Winternals Software and co-author of Inside Windows 2000, 3rd edition (published by Microsoft press), was clearly delivered to a home crowd, and its message was clear: Linux is paying catch-up with Windows and the gap is narrowing. It all means, said Russinovich, that the kernel is becoming less relevant. Both kernels are monolithic, he noted, meaning that all core operating system services run in a shared address space in kernel mode. And, he asserted, both have a common heritage. 'Both operating systems had their origins in the 1970s and their real birth in the 1990s and have been evolving quickly since then. The two operating systems are very similar from a kernel perspective, because as engineers work on problems they look around to see what’s working elsewhere. So you end up with a lot of similarities,' said Russinovich ... Russinovich's presentation, which he claimed to have run by Torvalds, Cutler and Linux kernel developer Ingo Molnar, did not cut any slack for what Russinovich characterised as u-turns by Linux developers -- most notably Molnar. For example, on making the kernel re-entrant (which refers to letting software be executed multiple times simultaneously), Russinovich cited an article he wrote which pointed out the lack of this feature in the Linux kernel. 'Molnar said it was a clear red herring,' said Russinovich, 'A month later he turned around and made all paths (in the Linux kernel) r-eentrant.' 'I also pointed out that a pre-emptible kernel is a lot more responsive to a high priority thread,' said Russinovich, moving on to his next target. 'The Linux kernel 2.6 was made fully pre-emptible.' As these and other differences have been removed, said Russinovich, the only major difference between the two operating systems is how windowing is handled. 'Windows has kernel windowing ... With Linux, you have messages transmitted which can degrade performance.' Security was also another area where there significant differences remain between the two operating systems. But ultimately, said Russinovich, the gap between the two operating systems will continue to narrow to a point where their underlying kernel becomes irrelevant. 'Layered services will become more important," he concluded.'"

To be clear, Marc Russinovich is a freaking genius, and I had heard about his attempts to get the Linux kernel developers to switch to re-entrancy had been originally rebuked. It's somewhat classic that a Windows kernel expert would help the Linux community fix their product.

[ Posted at 12:47 PM | Permalink ]