Google's Fuchsia OS is out in the open and shrouded in mystery

Android and Chrome OS use the Linux kernel, but Fuchsia doesn't.

Google's Fuschia is an experimental open-source operating system based on Magenta, a combination microkernel and set of user-space services and hardware drivers. • Credit: Rob Schultz

Google is developing a new operating system named Fuchsia, and the early source code is already public. Google itself and Fuchsia’s developers haven’t explained what the OS is for—but we can dig into the source code to learn more.

Pink + Purple == Fuchsia

Fuchsia is a new, open-source operating system being worked on by Google employees. “Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System),” reads the cryptic description on the project’s GitHub page. The source code is also available on GitHub, as well as on Google Source.

That’s it, though. While the project’s source code is available and we can see who specifically is working on it, there’s been no official announcement from Google or explanation from the individual developers as to Fuchsia’s purpose.

If no one’s ready to comment on it, why is it already public? As Google’s Brian Swetland reportedly explained on the project’s IRC channel: “The decision was made to build it open source, so might as well start there from the beginning.” From the same conversations, the developers report that the Fuchsia operating system is “currently booting reasonably well on Broadwell and Skylake NUCs and the Acer Switch Alpha 12, though driver support is still a work in progress.” Raspberry Pi 3 support is also coming soon.

Magenta, Escher, and Mojo

While there hasn’t been much news officially announced, here’s what we can glean from the available source code.

The Fuchsia operating system is based on Magenta. Magenta is a combination microkernel and set of user-space services and hardware drivers. This is a big departure from Google’s use of the Linux kernel across both Android and Chrome OS.

Fuchsia includes Escher, a “physically based renderer” that provides volumetric soft shadows, color bleeding, light diffusion, and a lens effect. This suggests that Fuchsia won’t be just a bare-bones embedded operating system, but will be capable of providing graphical user interfaces.

It appears that Mojo is the application framework and runtime for applications. The primary programming language for Fuchsia seems to be Google’s own Dart.

What’s it for?

While Fuchsia is an extremely interesting project, any speculation that Google is on the verge of replacing Android and Chrome OS with Fuchsia is unfounded and way too early. Even if this was the long-term goal for the project, it will likely take quite a few years before anything is ready for a consumer release. We should be hearing a lot more about Fuchsia from Google in the future, and it’ll be interesting to see what plans Google has up its sleeve.


Source: PC World
Author: Chris Hoffman | @chrisbhoffman

Chris Hoffman is a tech geek who's been writing about everything technology-related for years. When he's not writing about gadgets and software, he's probably using them in his spare time.

Google Fuchsia OS: What is it and what does it power?

Google is developing an entirely new operating system.

But here's the thing: it's unclear at the moment what this operating system is for, including what devices it might power. Here's everything we know so far about the project, which is currently going by the name Fuchsia. Keep checking back, however, as we plan to update this piece over time with the latest reports, rumours, leaked information, and of course, any and all confirmations.

Google Fuchsia: What is it?

Fuchsia is an evolving pile of code. You can find it on the search giant's code depository and on GitHub. The code is supposedly the early beginnings of an entirely new operating system, though Google has yet to confirm those details. Interestingly, it's not based on Linux Kernel - the core underpinnings of both Android (Google's mobile OS) and Chrome OS (Google's desktop and laptop OS).

Google Fuchsia: What devices might it power?

The current school of thought is that Fuchsia is a new OS that could unify Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system (something that's been heavily speculated since 2015. Reports have claimed that OS will release in 2017. That said, Google's own documentation describes the software as targeting "modern phones and modern personal computers" with "fast processors" and "non-trivial amounts of RAM."

If Fuchsia is not a unifying OS, it could be used to power Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as Google's OnHub router (pictured above).

Google Fuchsia: Why could it be an IoT OS?

Fuchsia is built on Magenta. It's a "medium-sized microkernel" based on a project called LittleKernel, which is meant for embedded systems, such as a device that has a specific purpose but doesn't require a whole OS, like a router or watch. Also, the two developers listed on Fuchsia's GitHub page - a senior software engineer at Google and  a former engineer on Android TV and Nexus Q -  are well-known experts in embedded systems.

Furthermore, Google's documentation notes Magenta supports user modes, graphics rendering, and a "capability-based security model". Although all this points to Fuchsia being an OS for Wi-Fi connected gadgets, it's worth bringing up that Google already has an IoT platform called Brillo.

Google Fuchsia: Will it replace Android?

Possibly. Android is riddled with problems that Google has yet to fix. First, there's fragmentation caused by hundreds of different devices from dozens of manufacturers using different, tweaked versions of Android rather than the latest, pure version. Second, there's an update problem. Google has an annual release schedule for Android updates, but it takes about four years for an update to fully flood the ecosystem.

Although many of these problems are related to Android being open source - which means Google gives it to OEMs and carriers and lets them tinker with it and load it onto random hardware, resulting in fragmentation, as Google can't then decide to push Android direct to these devices if any modifications and tinkering has been done - another problem is that Android is based on Linux.

Linux is not only old but is dogged by many legal issues - and subsequent licensing fees from Android hardware OEMs eat away at profit margins. The Linux kernel was also not originally designed for smartphones and IoT devices, and yet the kernel's been completely tweaked and loaded onto those devices, creating a prime environment for bugs and vulnerabilities to grow.

A new operating system and platform would solve all these issues. It wouldn't be shackled by pricey patent licensing deals. It would be safer, built, and optimised for today. It could also be modular and truly unified, meaning it would work across many devices. Google could even begin licensing it to hardware developers, solving those fragmentation and update problems.

Google Fuchsia: What else could it be?

Hacker News users have suggested Fuchsia could be designed for augmented reality interfaces.

Google Fuchsia: Are there any other clues?

Nope. But the top of Fuchsia's GitHub page does say "Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System)".

Google Fuchsia: Why is the code public?

As for why the project/code is out in the public and thus was able to be discovered in such a low-key manner, Brian Swetland, one of Fuchsia's listed developers, reportedly explained: "The decision was made to build it open source, so might as well start there from the beginning."

Swetland also revealed Fuchsia is booting reasonably well on small-form factor Intel PCs and an Acer Switch Alpha 12 laptop.

Want to know more?

Check Pocket-lint's Google hub for related news.


Source: Pocket-lint
Author: Elyse Betters

Acer Switch Alpha 12

Acer Switch Alpha 12

View Acer site

Several sources revealed Google's Fuchsia OS is booting reasonably well on small-form factor Intel PCs and an Acer Switch Alpha 12 laptop.


Source: Fuchsia @ Spingoo
Author: Martina Bloom

What is Google building its new OS, Fuchsia, for?

Google has acknowledged that a new OS is being built. We try to find out why.

Google has started work on building a new operating system, called Fuchsia. It has been noted in Google’s code depository on GitHub, and the pile of codes have revealed that it is not based on the Linux kernel, hence differentiating it from Google’s existing operating systems -- Chrome OS and Android. While the signs of a new operating system is indeed matter of excitement, what remains shrouded in mysteries is what the OS will be used for. The only thing that is mentioned by Google above the pile of code is, “Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System)”.

What could Fuchsia be meant for, then? The core code of the operating system appears to focus on keeping in light on resources, and as The Verge notes, could be the operating system that fuses Google’s Chrome OS and Android into one. Reports about this had surfaced late last year, but Google had subsequently quashed such rumours, and Chrome OS lived on as an individual entity. The possibility, though, has been rekindled with Fuchsia’s advent, along with other sources claiming that Fuchsia may be used for peripherals like Google’s OnHub router, or Google’s lineup of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A part of Google’s Fuchsia code states that it is built on Magenta, not the Project Magenta, but a micro-kernel used in embedded computing devices like a car’s connected entertainment system or smartwatches. That may be a possible scope of usage for Fuchsia, and more relevance is added to this idea as the two developers listed on GitHub - Christopher Anderson and Brian Swetland - are senior software engineers, and have previously worked on projects like Android TV - an embedded computing hardware.

Many, though, are claiming that only this will be a very marginal case of use of Fuchsia. Google’s documentation of the Magenta micro-kernel states that it has “first class user-mode support”, and “targets modern phones and modern personal computers with fast processors, non-trivial amounts of ram with arbitrary peripherals doing open ended computation.” Fuchsia also includes support for graphics rendering, and these two evidences combined suggest that the OS may indeed be used for something greater than embedded systems. Google already has its own Android-based IoT platform Brillo, which can be used for the smaller systems.

As The Verge reports, Google is already testing Fuchsia, and it is working fairly well. Fuchsia has been running well on small-form Intel PCs and even an Acer Switch Alpha 12 laptop, and support will soon be added for Raspberry Pi 3. Google has reportedly decided to build it open source, so we can expect more details to be unveiled soon.

And, well, with the amount of mystery shrouding the project right now, we cannot help but hope Fuchsia will lead to much greater software innovation than what we’re guessing for now.

Source: DIGIT
Author: Souvik Das

YouTube: Google's Fuchsia OS | Source. Compile. Run.

Fuchsia – Google’s New Open Source Operating System

Project Fuchsia is Google’s attempt to expand its holdings with a new operating system for use with personal computers and phones. Google was very successful with its Android OS which has grabbed 65.5 percent of the U.S. market. Google now sets it sites on the PC world and similar success.

Google was very successful with its Android OS which has grabbed 65.5 percent of the U.S. market. Google now sets it sites on the PC world and similar success.

Fuchsia is in its infancy, but is currently up and running on an Acer Switch Alpha 12 hybrid tablet.

There are plans for running Google Fuchsia on a Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B will probably be the model that gets Fuchsia.

Fuchsia is an open-source project which allows view the code, learn from it, copy it, share it, edit it, and use it in their own projects. The open source community promotes collaboration and sharing of source code for millions of projects by millions of programmers.  As a result Google’s Fuchia could see improvements in reliability, security, and quality.

You can find the Fuchsia project on Google's website and on Github.

Source: Daily Tech
Author: Elroy Bethell

What the Fuchsia? Google's trying out a mysterious new operating system

The software is designed for "modern phones and modern personal computers," which suggests Google intends to compete against Microsoft's Windows and possibly its own Android.

First there was Windows vs. Mac. Then came iOS vs. Android. Now with a project called Fuchsia, Google could be starting a new software platform war -- but we don't yet know who's on the other side of the battle line.

Fuchsia, which emerged Friday, is an operating system designed for "modern phones and modern personal computers," Google says. For those devices, the tech titan already has Android and Chrome OS, raising the possibility that Fuchsia will compete with Google's own work.

It's hard to launch a new mainstream operating system. But with Android, Google became one of the few companies to successfully do so, and the Fuchsia team includes veterans of operating systems including the legendary BeOS. And as Apple showed with iOS on its iPhones, a new operating system can bring dramatic new benefits to consumers.

You may be happy with Windows, Android, MacOS or iOS. But there's still room for improvement. A fresh start in the world of operating systems could mean stronger security, more responsiveness, longer battery life, and an easier time for programmers writing sophisticated apps.

OS hurdles

Building an operating system is technically hard, especially one like Android or Windows that has to handle a wide variety of hardware. And when building a new OS, it's hard to get developers to write software tailored for it -- a key problem that doomed many operating systems, including Windows Phone, Mozilla's Firefox OS, Palm's WebOS and Ubuntu Touch. If people aren't using the software, there's no incentive for developers to support it.

And getting consumers excited about operating systems is tough. "Users really don't want to run operating systems -- they want to run apps," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver.

Google could help a fledgling operating system by making it compatible with Android. But that would also make it harder for Google to make a true fresh start.

Operating systems can also succeed in narrower domains -- anything from network equipment to microwave ovens, for example. And it's not yet clear what Google's Fuchsia ambitions are. The company declined to comment further on Fuchsia.

An operating system manages a device's most basic operations. It registers keyboard clicks, sends data over a network, juggles the tasks running on a processor, stores files on a drive, displays graphics on a screen and controls a phone camera. At the center of the OS is software called a kernel, which in Fuchsia's case is called Magenta.

Android is based on the open-source Linux kernel that has been around since 1991.

Fuchsia is still in its early stages. Google has it up and running on an Acer Switch Alpha 12, a laptop-tablet hybrid, but apparently also wants to get it running on a Raspberry Pi, a much less powerful machine. It also runs on devices powered by ARM chips, the type that powers almost all phones and tablets.

Fuchsia team

Some notable developers are contributing to the project. Among them:

• Travis Geiselbrecht, who worked on a failed but influential operating system from the 1990s called BeOS, the iPhone and the OS for the Danger Hiptop operating system, which T-Mobile sold as the original Sidekick.
• Brian Swetland, who worked on BeOS, the Hiptop OS and who spent many years toiling on the core parts of Android.
• Chris McKillop, a member of the original iPhone team and the original WebOS team who also worked on the QNX operating system used in cars and some BlackBerry devices. He also worked on the Danger Hiptop.
• Adam Barth, a longtime member of Google's Chrome team who more recently has been working on a Google tool designed called Flutter to make it easier for programmers to write software that runs on Android and iOS. He also built an operating system of his own called Tau.

Fuchsia is an open-source project, meaning anyone can see the underlying programming instructions, modify them and use them for their own purposes. It's hard to sell open-source software the way Microsoft sells Windows or Adobe Systems sells Photoshop, but it's easier to attract outside programmers to contribute an open-source project, and it's more likely the software will be used and improved as a result.

The Fuchsia project is hosted both on Google's own site and on the publicly available Github.

Source: C|NET
Author: Stephen Shankland

Google is working on a new operating system named Fuchsia

'Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System).'

Here's a puzzle: Google appears to have started work on a completely new operating system, but no one knows quite what it's for. The project's name is Fuchsia, and it currently exists as a growing pile of code on the search giant's code depository and on GitHub, too. The fledgling OS has a number of interesting features, but so far Google has yet to comment on its intended function. All we really know is that this looks like a fresh start for Google, as the operating system does not use the Linux kernel — a core of basic code that underpins both Android and Chrome OS.

So what is Fuchsia for? There have been a number of suggestions. Some people think it could be used to "unify" Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system (a plan that was first rumored last year, with the new OS said to be scheduled for a 2017 release), while others say it could be used to power hardware like Google's OnHub router or third-party Internet of Things devices.

FUCHSIA'S CORE CODE IS DESIGNED TO BE LIGHTWEIGHT

However, the Magenta kernel can do a lot more than just power a router. Google's own documentation says the software "targets modern phones and modern personal computers" that use "fast processors" and "non-trivial amounts of RAM." It notes that Magenta supports a number of advanced features, including user modes and a "capability-based security model." Further evidence that Fuchsia is intended for more than just Wi-Fi-connected gadgets include the fact that Google already has its own IoT platform (the Android-based Brillo), and the fact that the new OS includes support for graphics rendering. Some users of Hacker News have even suggested that Fuchsia could be use for augmented reality interfaces. (Google itself has yet to respond to requests for comment.)

This is just speculation for now, and the only real description we have of Fuchsia is what it says at the top of the GitHub page: "Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System)." The question of why the project would be revealed in this way is also confusing, although when pressed on the subject during an IRC chat, Swetland reportedly said: "The decision was made to build it open source, so might as well start there from the beginning."

Well, we've certainly got the beginning of Fuchsia, but where it goes next isn't clear. From what we can see, it's currently being tested on all sorts of systems. Swetland says it's "booting reasonably well" on small-form factor Intel PCs (NUCs) as well as an Acer Switch Alpha 12 laptop ("although driver support is still a work in progress"), while another Google developer involved in the project, Travis Geiselbrecht, says they'll soon have support for the Raspberry Pi 3. At this rate, it looks like Fuchsia will be popping up all over the place.

Source: The Verge
Author: James Vincent