"Oh Tanenbaum, oh Tanenbaum...": Technical Foundations of Xmas 4.0 Research

TL;DR

This paper explores the foundational research questions of Xmas 4.0, examining the technical aspects of Santa Claus, Xmas trees, and related structures to establish a basis for future Xmas research advancements.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Xmas Research (XR), filling a gap in existing literature by analyzing fundamental questions related to Xmas phenomena and their technical underpinnings.

Findings

Santa Claus's reliability depends on underlying structures.

Xmas trees' stability relates to basic tree structures.

Programming languages can influence Xmas-related solutions.

Abstract

Andrew Tanenbaum and his textbooks -- e.g. on Operating Systems, Computer Networks, Structured Computer Organization and Distributed Systems, to name but a few -- have had a tremendous impact on generations of computer science students (and teachers at the same time). Given this, it is striking to observe that this comprehensive body of work apparently does not provide a single line on a research topic that seems to be intimately related with his name (at least in German), i.e. Xmas Research (XR). Hence, the goal of this paper is to fill this gap and provide insight into a number of paradigmatic XR research questions, for instance: Can we today still count on Santa Claus? Or at least on Xmas trees? And does this depend on basic tree structures, or can we rather find solutions on the level of programming languages? By addressing such basic open issues, we aim at providing a solid technical foundation for future steps towards the imminent evolution of Xmas 4.0.