In modern times, almost all software depends on other software. So in this more technical post, I’ll talk about the software used by Kros’s proof-of-concept, focusing on what I think are the biggest pieces that will continue to remain an important part of Kros as it evolves.
Linux
Every operating system needs a kernel to handle low level functions like process management and interprocess communications, and Linux is one of the most widely used open source kernels in the world. In fact, the Android operating system uses a modified Linux kernel.
The Kros proof-of-concept application is a Linux application that I’ve developed and tested almost exclusively on Arch Linux, which is my preferred Linux distribution. Kros successfully compiles and runs on Ubuntu as well.
Ultimately, even once Kros becomes a full operating system, it will continue to use the Linux kernel. At that point, however, Kros won’t be a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Arch Linux. In fact, the API for developing Kros applications will be kernel-independent to leave open the possibility of switching to an alternative kernel (like Zircon) in the future.
OpenXR and Monado
OpenXR is an open API developed by the Khronos group, the same entity responsible for the widely-used graphics APIs OpenGL and Vulkan. Kros currently uses OpenXR for interacting with mixed reality hardware. As a result, Monado, which is the OpenXR runtime for Linux, is used for running Kros.
As Kros evolves into an independent operating system, it will need to provide its own mixed reality hardware interface to application developers, enabling them to write immersive Kros applications using OpenXR similar to the way Monado enables them to write Linux XR applications using OpenXR. In a way, the roles of Kros and OpenXR will be reversed with Kros hosting an OpenXR implementation rather than depending on it. Thankfully, Monado is open source, so Kros will be able to reuse its code.
OGRE
OGRE is an open source 3D rendering engine. Unlike popular engines like Unreal and Unity, OGRE is strictly a 3D rendering engine and not a game engine.
The Kros demo uses OGRE for rendering the 3D user interface and for the 3D virtual reality demo game. Any other services offered by complete game engines would either be excessive or made redundant by Kros’s internal services, so an engine dedicated exclusively to 3D rendering is exactly what is needed.
While Kros may continue to use OGRE for the user interface layer, immersive application developers should be free to use any rendering engine or game engine that supports the OpenGL or Vulkan graphics APIs.
Open Source
All of these big pieces are open source. That’s because Kros itself will be open source so there is a strong preference for its dependencies to also be open source. Even in cases where proprietary software is being used, such as the Leap Motion hand tracking, the idea is to eventually either utilize such software through open APIs (for example, graphics drivers via Vulkan) or remove such software in favor of open alternatives.
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Kros Development Log 