OSDI '94 Panel:
Radical Operating Systems Structures for Extensibility


Moderator: Paul Leach (Microsoft)

Brian Bershad (Univ. of Washington)
David Cheriton (Stanford University)
Frans Kaashoek (MIT)
Steven Lucco (CMU)
Larry Peterson (Univ. of Arizona)

Why are there so many major new kernel efforts underway today -- more than at any time in recent memory? What is spawning this upsurge in kernel development activity? Is it the information highway? ATM? Wireless? Do RISC processors make microkernels too slow? Is OS extensibility really required to cope with changing system requirements? Do we really need to insert untrusted application code into the kernel to get performance? In this panel, five leading OS researchers will explain what trends in computer systems make their new kernel necessary, and why their approach is better than the other four.

The panelists initially presented in reverse alphabetical order:
Audio: part 1 (20MB, 45 minutes), part 2 (20.2MB, 44 minutes).

Larry Petersen: Scout: A Communications-Oriented Operating System
Allen B. Montz, David Mosberger, Sean W. O'Malley, Larry L. Peterson, Todd A. Proebsting, John H. Hartman
Summary, Slides, Scout home page
Steven Lucco: High-Performance Microkernel Systems
Summary, Project home page
Frans Kaashoek: The Exokernel Approach to Operating System Extensibility
Dawson R. Engler, M. Frans Kaashoek, James W. O'Toole Jr.
Summary, Slides, Exokernel home page
David Cheriton: Low and High Risk Operating System Architectures
Summary, Slides
Brian Bershad: Some Issues in the Design of an Extensible Operating System
Stefan Savage and Brian N. Bershad
Summary, Slides, SPIN home page

spo@cs.utah.edu
Last modified on Sat Mar 22 1995