I guess they mean proper as in significant marketshare.

I meant this proper as in significant marketshare.

There are only two kernel architectures in use though: Unix-derived and Windows. This could make for a very different new entry

I haven't seen anything to suggest that the new Huawei OS will use a unique kernel architecture.

a microkernel is already different to linux.

the top answer on https://www.zhihu.com/question/640078375/answer/3367442919 suggests it was based on the Minix 3 μk, but the bottom answer claims it's greenfield development.

(someone who cares more than I do could buy one of the devices listed in the middle answer and enlighten us as to what's on it?)

EDIT: looks not-minixy to me, according to Huawei's OSDI slides: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41934156

It is not Minixy derivative, there is no Unix-like, it's access control is hybrid of traditional role based and capability-based on distributed OpenHarmony operating system base with a distributed file system, on a distributed operating system distro of HarmonyOS. And the kernel module structure is far different on MINIXY https://codedocs.org/what-is/minix-3 HarmonyOS 4.2 uses mature security defense mechanisms such as SELinux, Seccomp, Namespace, and Capability (iOS 17 uses Sandbox and Entitlement to achieve similar effects). HarmonyOS NEXT has designed a CAPABILITY SYSTEM on top of existing defense mechanisms to restrict access to kernel functions and verify IPC permissions.

In HarmonyOS NEXT, kernel objects are used as carriers for data transmission during IPC communication. The CAPABILITY SYSTEM ensures that only those with the capability to read from or write to kernel objects can receive or send messages through these objects. As a result, the content of messages cannot be accessed by malicious processes. DarkNavy ethical cybersecurity group in China tested Huawei's HarmonyOS Next custom kernel earlier this year with a report released in June. https://www.darknavy.org/blog/avss_report_kernel/ and the toolchain is exposed: https://harmonyoshub.com/harmonyos-next-leak-exposes-the-in-...

I meant in potential marketshare, while linux is widely used for desktop(professional users), i wouldn't say it has a lot of marketshare tho. So consumer software support will be limited.