The Powerbox

Rationale

In a ?CapabilityBasedMicrokernel, an application might be used with the very minimal set of capabilities that is needed to execute it, that is read-only access to it's libraries and files, plus maybe access to a specific IP connection or configuration directory.

Thus when the user asks to open or save a file, the dialog used to choose the file could also serve the purpose of granting the appropriate capabilities to the application.

This dialog is named the powerbox.

Links

• Plash powerbox
• E and Cap Desk
• Polaris: Toward Virus Safe Computing for Windows XP
• The E Language in a Walnut - search for "Powerbox Capability Manager"
• The Darpa Browser - see Appendix 5

-- ?NowhereMan - 28 Apr 2006