The x-kernel: an open operating system design
Hutchinson, N.C.; Peterson, L.L.; Rao, H.
Workstation Operating Systems, 1989., Proceedings of the Second Workshop on
Volume , Issue , 27-29 Sep 1989 Page(s):55 - 59
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/WWOS.1989.109268
Summary:An operating system design that views a workstation as a portal
through which users access Internet resources is proposed. Such a system
should accommodate a variety of protocol suites yet present users with
an integrated and uniform interface to all the protocols and, as a
consequence, to all Internet resources. Toward this end, they have
designed an operating system, called the x-kernel, that
consists of three major components: a configurable kernel that provides
uniform access to a wide array of protocols, a heterogeneous file
system, and a customizable user interface. The central element in this
design is the protocol. The kernel implements a library of useful
protocols. The file system and user interface in turn, provide a
per-user environment that translates a resource name into the protocol
that should be used to access the resource. The authors describe the
library of protocols, the file system and the user interface
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