Tock: From Research To Securing 10 Million Computers

Tock began 10 years ago as a research operating system developed by academics to help other academics build urban sensing applications. By leveraging a new language (Rust) and new hardware protection mechanisms, Tock enabled "Multiprogramming a 64 kB Computer Safely and Efficiently". Today, it is an open-source project with a vibrant community of users and contributors. It is deployed on root-of-trust hardware in data-center servers and on millions of laptops; it is used to develop automotive and space products, wearable electronics, and hardware security tokens—all while remaining a platform for operating systems research. This paper focuses on the impact of Tock's technical design on its adoption, the challenges and unexpected benefits of using a type-safe language (Rust)—particularly in security-sensitive settings—and the experience of supporting a production open-source operating system from academia.