COMP 3000 2011 Report: WattOS - Revision history

Jllandry: /* Basic Operation */

2011-12-20T05:53:16Z

Basic Operation

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:53, 20 December 2011
Line 66:		Line 66:
	</p>		</p>

	<p>A power manager is supplied that can configure your system's power saving behavior. Figure 6		<p>A power manager is supplied that can configure your system's power saving behavior including the rate that the hard disk spins whilst in a low usage state. Figure 6
	[[File:Usage-power_manager.png\|thumb\|right\|Figure 6 - Power Manager]]		[[File:Usage-power_manager.png\|thumb\|right\|Figure 6 - Power Manager]]
	</p>		</p>

Jllandry: /* Basic Operation */

2011-12-20T05:51:48Z

Basic Operation

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:51, 20 December 2011
Line 44:		Line 44:

	==Basic Operation==		==Basic Operation==
	WattOS's claim to fame is it's power saving ability. Since I installed WattOS on a virtual machine I was not able to accuratly measure and compare it's performance to another OS. I was able to test some of the features common to most modern operating systems such as:		WattOS's claim to fame is it's power saving ability. Since I installed WattOS on a virtual machine I was not able to accuratly measure and compare it's performance to another OS. I was able to test some of the features common to most modern operating systems such as: email, playing media, word processing, image editing and surfing the web. Below is a list of the applications I tested and attached screenshot. This is the first version of WattOS which does not include Firefox. Instead the developers chose the light weight, open source chromium browser from Google.
			<br/>
	<p>The Sylpheed email client is installed and can be configured to connect to several types of servers. All functionality associated with email clients is present.(compose, structured email hierarchy, drafts, address book search etc.)Figure 1		<p>The Sylpheed email client is installed and can be configured to connect to several types of servers. All functionality associated with email clients is present.(compose, structured email hierarchy, drafts, address book search etc.)Figure 1
	[[File:Usage-email.png\|right\|thumb\|right\|Figure 1 - Sylpheed email client]]		[[File:Usage-email.png\|right\|thumb\|right\|Figure 1 - Sylpheed email client]]

Jllandry: /* Basic Operation */

2011-12-20T05:48:16Z

Basic Operation

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:48, 20 December 2011
Line 44:		Line 44:

	==Basic Operation==		==Basic Operation==
			WattOS's claim to fame is it's power saving ability. Since I installed WattOS on a virtual machine I was not able to accuratly measure and compare it's performance to another OS. I was able to test some of the features common to most modern operating systems such as:
	<p>The Sylpheed email client is installed and can be configured to connect to several types of servers. All functionality associated with email clients is present.(compose, structured email hierarchy, drafts, address book search etc.)Figure 1		<p>The Sylpheed email client is installed and can be configured to connect to several types of servers. All functionality associated with email clients is present.(compose, structured email hierarchy, drafts, address book search etc.)Figure 1
	[[File:Usage-email.png\|right\|thumb\|right\|Figure 1 - Sylpheed email client]]		[[File:Usage-email.png\|right\|thumb\|right\|Figure 1 - Sylpheed email client]]

Jllandry: /* Usage Evaluation */

2011-12-20T05:45:10Z

Usage Evaluation

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:45, 20 December 2011
Line 70:		Line 70:
	==Usage Evaluation==		==Usage Evaluation==

	WattOS ~~accomplishes~~ it's ~~goals~~. It remains responsive even under heavy load. The applications installed start quickly and accomplish all routine tasks users perform. WattOS only requires 256MB to install and 100-120MB whilst running and can be run using a 366MHZ processor.		WattOS uses an LXDE desktop which uses power and RAM conservatively. The OS is easy to use, all of it's functionality is available through the intuitive GUI. The functions of the OS do not require advanced knowledge of terminal commands or Linux. WattOS remains responsive even under heavy load. The applications installed start quickly and accomplish all routine tasks users perform including email, playing media, word processing, image editing and surfing the web. The instillation is easy and requires no knowledge of computers in order to complete. WattOS only requires 256MB to install and 100-120MB whilst running and can be run using a 366MHZ processor. It accomplishes all of the functionality of modern operating systems with minimal footprint and hardware requirements. I would recommend WattOS to any user looking for a light weight OS for older machines or a power saving OS to maximize battery life.

	=Part 2=		=Part 2=

Jllandry: /* Kernel Initialization */

2011-12-20T05:32:24Z

Kernel Initialization

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:32, 20 December 2011
Line 395:		Line 395:
	The first step looks at the bios' provided physicval RAM.		The first step looks at the bios' provided physicval RAM.
	Afterwards the memory mapping is initialized and a kernel is paravirtualized on the bare hardware.		Afterwards the memory mapping is initialized and a kernel is paravirtualized on the bare hardware.
	The kernel boots an image of another kernel		The kernel boots an image of another kernel and several subsystems are initialized, including: cpuacct, memory, devices, freezer, net_cls and blkio.
	several subsystems are initialized, including: cpuacct, memory, devices, freezer, net_cls and blkio.
	Then several caches are initialized.		Then several caches are initialized.
	Lastly the ext4 file system cleans up orphaned files.		Lastly the ext4 file system cleans up orphaned files.

Jllandry: /* Kernel Initialization */

2011-12-20T05:31:32Z

Kernel Initialization

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:31, 20 December 2011
Line 393:		Line 393:
	===Kernel Initialization===		===Kernel Initialization===
	By using dmsg I was able to look at the kernel's initialization. Upon inspection I discovered that:		By using dmsg I was able to look at the kernel's initialization. Upon inspection I discovered that:
	The first step looks at the ~~bio~~'s provided physicval RAM.		The first step looks at the bios' provided physicval RAM.
	Afterwards the memory mapping is initialized and a kernel is paravirtualized on the bare hardware.		Afterwards the memory mapping is initialized and a kernel is paravirtualized on the bare hardware.
	The kernel boots an image of another kernel		The kernel boots an image of another kernel

Jllandry: /* Package Upstream */

2011-12-20T05:30:43Z

Package Upstream

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:30, 20 December 2011
Line 355:		Line 355:

	===Package Upstream===		===Package Upstream===
	WattOS R4 was released shortly prior to the writing of this report as such most of the packages are the most recent versions.<br/><br/>		WattOS R4 was released shortly prior to the writing of this report as such most of the packages are the most recent versions. With the exception to LXDE the desktop package. This is interesting because the LXDE package is one of WattOS's major power saving packages. A possible reason for this old package is that the most recent version of LXDE has higher system requirements.<br/><br/>

Jllandry: /* Initialization */

2011-12-20T04:21:27Z

Initialization

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:21, 20 December 2011
Line 391:		Line 391:
	There are also several daemons in the init process tree. Deamons provide services to the system and other processes. The dbus-daemon provides is an inter process communication service whereby processes communicate through the daemon. The avahi-daemon provides a service discovery program that discovers local services and publishes services on the local machine. The udisks daemon is started by dbus. It is a command line interface for disk devices. It can be used to enumerate devices, mount devices and much more; details of which can be found in the udisks man page.		There are also several daemons in the init process tree. Deamons provide services to the system and other processes. The dbus-daemon provides is an inter process communication service whereby processes communicate through the daemon. The avahi-daemon provides a service discovery program that discovers local services and publishes services on the local machine. The udisks daemon is started by dbus. It is a command line interface for disk devices. It can be used to enumerate devices, mount devices and much more; details of which can be found in the udisks man page.
	<br/>		<br/>
			===Kernel Initialization===
			By using dmsg I was able to look at the kernel's initialization. Upon inspection I discovered that:
			The first step looks at the bio's provided physicval RAM.
			Afterwards the memory mapping is initialized and a kernel is paravirtualized on the bare hardware.
			The kernel boots an image of another kernel
			several subsystems are initialized, including: cpuacct, memory, devices, freezer, net_cls and blkio.
			Then several caches are initialized.
			Lastly the ext4 file system cleans up orphaned files.

	= References =		= References =

Jllandry: /* Background */

2011-12-20T04:02:21Z

Background

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:02, 20 December 2011
Line 8:		Line 8:
	"The goal is to balance responsiveness, function and footprint and to maintain a somewhat minimalist interface so you do not lose a quick, efficient way to move around your apps and desktop space while not having to be a command line ninja to do so."		"The goal is to balance responsiveness, function and footprint and to maintain a somewhat minimalist interface so you do not lose a quick, efficient way to move around your apps and desktop space while not having to be a command line ninja to do so."
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>
			<br/>
			WattOS uses an LXDE desktop. In a comparison of lightweight desktops LXDE used the least RAM and power. This furthers WattOS's goal of lowering power consumption.

	====Release History====		====Release History====

Jllandry: /* Introduction */

2011-12-20T04:01:00Z

Introduction

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:01, 20 December 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[File:WattOS_desktop.png]]		[[File:WattOS_desktop.png]]
	~~=Introduction=~~

	WattOS is a power saving operating systems that can be used on older machines. It uses an LXDE desktop. In a comparison of lightweight desktops LXDE used the least RAM and therefore power. This furthers WattOS's goal of lowering power consumption.

	=Part 1=		=Part 1=