[TUHS] QNX

Robert Brockway robert at timetraveller.org
Tue Feb 9 21:03:43 AEST 2021


On Mon, 8 Feb 2021, John Gilmore wrote:

> Wait, are we talking about the same operating system called QNX?

Hi John.  I found your comment really interesting.  I have less experience 
with QNX than you do but I do have a long-standing interest in OS design 
and found it interesting from that perspective.

QNX is a high performance real-time OS that has run critical 
infrastructure for decades.  Notably it's been used to run nuclear power 
stations in many countries.

Usage may have declined in recent years but in the vintage you're 
discussing (90s) QNX would have been widely used in critical 
infrastructure.  I contracted to an electricity provider about 8 or 9 
years ago and QNX was definitely still there.

Looks like BlackBerry now own QNX and the OS is still out there keeping 
critical stuff running.

For the record I am aware that microkernels are not intrinsically slow and 
I think they can offer significant advantages.  MINIX 3 is an interesing 
design, pity about the name.

Cheers,

Rob




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