ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles
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| ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles | |
|---|---|
| Name | ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles |
| Abbreviation | SOSP |
| Established | 1967 |
| Frequency | Biennial (recently) |
| Discipline | Computer science |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles is a premier biennial conference in computer science focused on operating system research, bringing together researchers from institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Cambridge and industry labs like Bell Labs, Microsoft Research, Google, IBM Research, Intel and Apple Inc.. The symposium has hosted influential work associated with figures from Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie to Barbara Liskov and Andrew S. Tanenbaum, attracting attendees from University of Oxford, Princeton University, University of Washington, Cornell University and ETH Zurich.
History
SOSP originated in the late 1960s during a period of active research at institutions such as Bell Labs, MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon University. Early meetings featured contributions from researchers affiliated with AT&T, RAND Corporation, Xerox PARC, Honeywell, Digital Equipment Corporation and General Electric, and interacted with projects like Multics, Unix, TENEX, CTSS and ITS. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the symposium intersected with research at University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, University of Toronto, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Los Angeles, Rice University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Maryland. During the 1990s contributions came from Microsoft Research, Sun Microsystems, Lucent Technologies, Bellcore and Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, and the event dovetailed with systems work at International Business Machines and Intel Corporation. In the 2000s and 2010s, SOSP continued to evolve with input from Google Research, Facebook (Meta Platforms), Amazon Web Services, Twitter, Dropbox, NetApp and academic centers such as University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Imperial College London. Recent decades have featured collaborations involving National Science Foundation, European Research Council, NSF and multinational consortia.
Scope and Topics
SOSP covers topics ranging from kernel design and concurrency to distributed systems and virtualization, encompassing work from labs at Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, ETH Zurich, University of Cambridge, University of Toronto and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. Typical subjects include fault tolerance papers linked to research at Bell Labs and Xerox PARC, scheduling studies related to Intel and AMD, storage innovations from NetApp and EMC Corporation, and security advances drawing on work at Microsoft Research, Google and Apple Inc.. The program frequently intersects with topics presented at USENIX, SIGCOMM, PLDI, ASPLOS, ISCA, FAST, NSDI, OOPSLA and SOSP-adjacent workshops, and overlaps with projects from Linux Foundation, OpenStack Foundation and Kubernetes-related communities.
Conference Organization and Sponsorship
SOSP is organized by the Association for Computing Machinery and its Special Interest Group on Operating Systems alongside program committees drawn from Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Cornell University, Princeton University, ETH Zurich, University of Toronto and industry researchers from Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, Intel, Apple Inc. and Amazon. Sponsors have included National Science Foundation, DARPA, European Commission, Microsoft Corporation, Google LLC, IBM, Intel Corporation and corporate partners such as VMware, Red Hat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp and Facebook (Meta Platforms). Host institutions have ranged from University of California, Santa Barbara to Yale University, Cornell University, Harvard University, University of Washington and Princeton University.
Submission and Review Process
Papers submitted to SOSP undergo peer review managed by program chairs and area chairs drawn from Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, University of Toronto and industrial labs at Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research and Intel. The process emphasizes novelty and empirical validation, often requiring artifact evaluation coordinated with groups like ACM SIGPLAN and USENIX. Accepted work often includes co-authors affiliated with Cornell University, Princeton University, University of Washington, UC San Diego, Rice University and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and is vetted by reviewers active in conferences such as NSDI, FAST, OSDI, PLDI and ASPLOS.
Notable Papers and Contributions
SOSP has published landmark papers associated with technologies and projects from Unix, Multics, Mach, BSD, Plan 9, Windows NT, Linux Kernel and Xen as well as influential research by authors from Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, MIT, Stanford University and UC Berkeley. Classic contributions include foundational work on virtual memory related to IBM, seminal distributed systems papers tied to Google, texture of consensus algorithms linked to Lamport-style research and replication studies with ties to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Research. The symposium has showcased advances in file systems such as those from Sun Microsystems, NetApp, EMC Corporation, distributed storage from Google, Facebook (Meta Platforms), Dropbox and virtualization improvements connected to Xen Project and VMware. Security and sandboxing papers have involved contributors from Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Google, NSA and DARPA-funded teams.
Awards and Recognition
SOSP bestows honors through best paper awards and community recognition, attracting recipients who have received broader accolades such as the Turing Award, ACM Fellowship, IEEE Fellow, USENIX Association awards and national honors from agencies like National Science Foundation and European Research Council. Past authors and chairs have included Barbara Liskov, Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Ronald Rivest, Leslie Lamport, Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Frances E. Allen, whose careers intersect with institutions such as MIT, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University and Princeton University. Institutional awards and recognition often involve sponsors like Microsoft Research, Google Research and IBM Research.
Conference Impact and Legacy
SOSP's legacy is reflected in its influence on operating systems in products by Microsoft Corporation, Apple Inc., Google, Amazon Web Services, Intel Corporation and IBM, and in academic curricula at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University and Princeton University. The symposium has shaped subsequent meetings such as OSDI, NSDI, FAST, ASPLOS, PLDI and SIGCOMM and informed standards and projects from Linux Foundation, OpenStack Foundation, Kubernetes, POSIX and IETF. Alumni of SOSP program committees and authors populate faculties at Harvard University, Yale University, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich and industrial labs at Google, Microsoft, IBM and Intel, continuing influence on research funding by National Science Foundation, DARPA and European Research Council.