[Mono-list] Mono and MS Singularity

[Joshua Tauberer]

Alessandro Bottoni wrote:
> I'm sure you know MS Singularity (http://research.microsoft.com/os/singularity/).
> 
> Singularity is something like a kernel (similar to Mach) + a virtual machine
> (similar to Mono/.NET VM) + a language (similar to C# but with special
> contract-programming and multithreading features). (Yes, it is much more than
> this but... ignore that, for the moment).
> 
> I wonder if anybody has even thought to re-create something like Singularity
> starting from Mono (or GNU.NET). I mean, something like this:
> 1) a kernel (Linux, Mach, a "managed code" kernel written in C#, whatever...)
> 2) the Mono virtual machine (maybe with support for "channels" and other stuff)

I don't know how relevant it is -- for this thread and the other about a
C# operating system -- but I was playing around with writing a managed
runtime last month, that is, a .NET VM written in C#.  Some info here:

http://razor.occams.info/blog/?p=41

And code here:

http://razor.occams.info/code/repo/?action=view&url=/mmr/

Though it can run *very* basic .NET programs, it's many man-months away
from being able to run anything useful, mostly due to the need to
reimplement a good chunk of the class library to fit with the VM.

I think anyone interested in doing an OS or something low-level like
that ought to consider the huge amount of effort that would be needed to
re-create the base class library....

-- 
- Joshua Tauberer

http://razor.occams.info

"Strike up the klezmer and start acting like a man. You're
about to have a truth-mitzvah."  -- The Colbert Report