Google releases Fuchsia specification for its non-Linux operating system

Google has revealed details of its non-Linux operating system, Fuchsia.

This week, Google released what it calls "The Book": a programmer's guide to operating Fuchsia.

According to the document, Fuchsia uses a microkernel architecture and is dedicated to being an operating system for embedded devices. The document describes Fuchsia's kernel design, software interface, services and libraries for running programs, storing data, and accessing the network, as well as how users can draw things on the screen. Judging from the document, the operating system is still under development.

These files point to lk, or Little Kernel, developed by Travis Geiselbrecht, who is very capable in designing operating systems. He joined Google in 2012 and has been working on the development of Fuchsia with Google employees since 2015.

The Fuchsia kernel, called Zircon, is written in C based on lk. It provides applications with 32-bit handles to access objects through system calls, which are used to manage memory, exchange information with other running programs, and use synchronization primitives. The system also provides C++ classes that allow objects to be manipulated through system calls.

Other concepts are defined in the document, including jobs, processes, threads, signals, wait rules, and events.

Next to the kernel is the Zircon Core, which handles device drivers, POSIX-compliant input and output, the C runtime and ELF binary loading, and most importantly the Zircon Framework, which runs core libraries, applications and provides namespaces and sandboxes. The document also explains issues such as storage, graphics and networking.

The source code indicates that the system supports x86-64 and arm64 processor architectures.

Currently, the document has not yet completed the description of compatibility and other issues.