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0.9.0 release notes

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content/news/release-0.9.0.md
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title = "Redox OS 0.9.0"
author = "Jeremy Soller and Ron Williams"
date = "2024-04-18"
author = "Ribbon, Ron Williams and Jeremy Soller"
date = "2024-09-9"
+++
(The computers image needs to be uploaded, like the previous release it should show the Jeremy computers running the current Redox version)
![Orbital in the 0.9.0 version](/img/screenshot/orbital-0.9.0.png)
![Programs running in the 0.9.0 version](/img/screenshot/programs1.png)
![Programs running in Redox 0.9.0](/img/screenshot/programs1.png)
![Orbital in Redox 0.9.0](/img/screenshot/orbital-0.9.0.png)
## Overview
It's been a while since we had our last release, but we have been heads-down working hard this whole time,
and Release 0.9.0 is packed with many improvements and cleanup.
and Release 0.9.0 is packed with new features, improvements, bug fixes and cleanup.
We would like to thank all maintainers and contributors a lot by their hard work that make this release possible.
We would like to thank all maintainers and contributors whose hard work has made this release possible.
Here are just a few of the highlights!
- Massive performance improvements
- Much improved process/thread lifecycle and signaling, thanks to funding from [NLnet](https://nlnet.nl/project/RedoxOS-Signals/)
- Massive performance improvements and stability
- Now featuring COSMIC Files, Editor and Terminal from the [COSMIC Desktop](https://system76.com/cosmic/)!
- Huge improvements to the portability of Linux/BSD programs
- Phase-One of the creation of a stable API
- USB Mouse and Keyboard support (with caveats)
- Phase One of the creation of a stable API
- Improved paging and memory management
- Faster system calls
- Wide-ranging clean-up and debugging of the kernel, drivers and PCIe support
- Improved USB HID support
- Improved filesystem performance
- Our [porting strategy](https://www.redox-os.org/news/porting-strategy/) was explained
## Other Key Improvements
- VirtIO drivers for better performance in virtual machines
- Virtualized [TSC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Stamp_Counter) gives a massive boost to context switching speed in virtual machines
- Change to [Unix path format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)#Unix_style) from our previous [URI format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Identifier) to improve source compatibility
- Relibc (our C library implementation) is now almost 100% Rust and much more complete
- Improvements to the bootloader for more hardware compatibility
- Significant progress on the ARM64 (Aarch64) support, including partial support for Raspberry Pi 3B+
- Contain (Redox's sandbox driver) has been expanded and is available as a demo (`desktop-contain.toml`)
- Slint, Iced and winit GUI libraries support the Redox's display server (Orbital)
- Most COSMIC Desktop programs were ported
- GNU Nano and [Helix](https://helix-editor.com/) editors were ported
- [RustPython](https://rustpython.github.io/) is working
- New build system options and improvements
- Lots of new documentation, a complete book review and cleanup, almost 100% up-to-date information
- Lots of new documentation, lots of updates to reflect recent changes
- A [FAQ](https://www.redox-os.org/faq/) was added to the website
- A [developer FAQ](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch09-07-developer-faq.html) was added to the book
- The Redox software ports system was almost completely documented
@@ -45,7 +49,7 @@ Here are just a few of the highlights!
- Some sections of the website FAQ were copied to the book for better reading and easy to find information
- [Feature comparison](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch04-11-features.html) tables were added to the book
- The [References](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch09-08-references.html) page documents the best references to learn Rust, OS development and computer science
- Now the website say that we aim to be a complete Linux/BSD alternative
- Our [porting strategy](https://www.redox-os.org/news/porting-strategy/) was explained
## Stability and Performance Improvements
@@ -69,11 +73,11 @@ Beyond the toolchain updates, we also updated important cross-platform libraries
## Rust-first Program Porting!
We focus on Rust programs as they are more easy to port, Ribbon quickly ported hundreds of emerging Rust programs in 2023.
We focus on Rust programs as they are more easy to port, Ribbon created WIP ports for hundreds of emerging Rust programs in 2023.
## C/C++ Programs
Ribbon also partially-ported the classic and widely-used C and C++ programs and libraries, he focused to package the most used (and best) programs of the Linux/BSD world.
Ribbon also created WIP ports for classic and widely-used C/C++ programs and libraries, he focused to package the most used (and best) programs of the Linux/BSD world.
Currently there are around 1,700 work-in-progress software ports, we need to write cross-compilation scripts and port/update some libraries to make them work.
@@ -107,9 +111,7 @@ Like mouse, keyboards, game controllers and other things.
## VirtIO Support
Anhad Singh from the [Aero](https://github.com/Andy-Python-Programmer/aero) project participated in our RSoC program from 2023 and implemented the VirtIO support on Redox.
He wrote some VirtIO drivers and improved the VirtIO GPU 2D acceleration to speed up our QEMU performance.
Anhad Singh from the [Aero OS](https://github.com/Andy-Python-Programmer/aero) project participated in our RSoC program from 2023 to write VirtIO drivers for Redox.
You can read about his work on the following posts:
@@ -163,15 +165,15 @@ In 2023 we migrated from Mattermost to Matrix to fix some management problems, t
The most important thing that Matrix fixed was the account creation approval for the chat and GitLab. Before Matrix you would need to wait the Mattermost approval of your account, but if the Mattermost email server went offline your account would never be approved, thus it was flooded with emails asking why their account was not approved, while Jeremy Soller didn't receive any emails.
In Matrix we fixed the account approval using the "Join Requests" room, where each new user request to join the Matrix space, the same for new GitLab accounts where each new contributor send its GitLab nickname for approval.
In Matrix we fixed the account approval using the "Join Requests" room, where each new user request to join the Matrix space. The same applies for new GitLab accounts where each new contributor send its GitLab nickname on the "GitLab Approvals" room for approval.
You can read more about it on [this](https://www.redox-os.org/news/community-announcements-1/) post.
## Discord
A Discord server was a long demand of the community because it's more convenient for most people, we didn't use Discord as the official platform because it's not free and open-source.
A Discord server was a long demand of the community because it's more convenient for most people, we didn't use Discord as the main chat platform because it's not free and open-source.
Ribbon took the task and solved the demand, the Discord messages are bridged to Matrix and the moderation system is the same of Matrix.
Ribbon took the task and created the official Discord server, the Discord messages are bridged to Matrix and the moderation system is the same of Matrix.
## Organization Improvements
@@ -180,15 +182,17 @@ We also did many other organization improvements to save time in most tasks and
<!--
## Discussion
To contact us, join in our Matrix space on [this](https://www.redox-os.org/community/) page.
Here are some links to discussion about this news post:
- [Hacker News]()
- [Mastodon]()
- [Fosstodon @redox]()
- [Fosstodon @soller]()
- [Patreon]()
- [Phoronix]()
- [Reddit /r/redox]()
- [Reddit /r/rust]()
- [Redox OS Chat]()
- [X (previously known as Twitter)]()
- [X/Twitter @redox_os]()
- [X/Twitter @jeremy_soller]()
- [Hacker News]()
-->
## Images
@@ -197,11 +201,9 @@ It is recommended to try Redox OS in a virtual machine before trying on real har
the [supported hardware](https://www.redox-os.org/faq/#which-devices-does-redox-support) section for details on what
hardware to select for the best experience.
Remember to verify the images checksum with the `sha256sum` tool, use [this](https://static.redox-os.org/releases/0.9.0/x86_64/SHA256SUM) link for the x86_64 images.
## Compression
The images are compressed using the [Zstd](https://github.com/facebook/zstd) algorithm, to learn how to decompress them read [this](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch02-01-running-vm.html#decompression) section.
- Read [this](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch02-01-running-vm.html) page to learn how to run the Redox images in a virtual machine
- Read [this](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch02-02-real-hardware.html) page to learn how to run the Redox images on real hardware
- Read [this](https://doc.redox-os.org/book/ch02-03-installing.html) page to learn how to install Redox
### Demo
@@ -298,9 +300,9 @@ The most important changes are shown below.
### Community
- Our chat migrated from Mattermost to Matrix
- We migrated the chat platform from Mattermost to Matrix
- A moderation system was implemented
- A nonprofit organization was created to help our money management
- A nonprofit organization was created to help the donation management
## Changelog