[SystemSafety] C for OSs

[Robert P. Schaefer]

Hi all,

The problem is a contradiction in what you want to and how to go about doing it.

 For security, you have to write OS “kernel” code that controls hardware.

 For an OS to be “good”, your kernel code has to be small and fast.

 For reasons of hardware access, you need to write assembly language statements to control hardware,

 The only small fast language that supports embedding assembly by pragma is C, and C is inherently insecure.

I’m willing to entertain the notion that I am wrong, but, per the quote:

 "Very smart people have tried for 50 years, and the solution to the is not reduced to practice."

bob s.
Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA

> On Sep 6, 2019, at 7:54 AM, Peter Bernard Ladkin <ladkin at causalis.com> wrote:
> 
> A quote from Tom van Vleck in Risks 31.40 today:
> 
> "It seems clear that trying to write secure operating systems in C does not
> work.  Very smart people have tried for 50 years, and the solution to the
> problem is not reduced to practice. "
> 
> PBL
> 
> Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
> MoreInCommon
> Je suis Charlie
> Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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