Hi kernel team
We at credativ are responsible for maintaining the Azure cloud images.
We got asked by Microsoft to explore the possibilities of introducing a
specialised Linux image for this plattform into Debian. The main
enhancements we look at would be:
- faster boot of the instance,
- smaller memory footprint of the running kernel, and
- new features.
We don't want to introduce a new source package as was done for
grsecurity. This may work, as Microsoft mainly targets the latest
kernel, which is not always nice.
That's why I would like to add such an image as a featureset to the main
Linux package. This will allow us to look at the downsides of the
approach in terms of maintenance overhead, build time, archive space
etc. If it does not work: disabling a featureset is easy.
As first step we will not add patches, so the only thing that can break
is the config. But just in case I'll propose the following rules for
patches:
- must be in Linus tree,
- must be in a subsystem maintainers tree, or
- are in linux-next (not sure about this one).
Would it be okay with you if we try this? Do you see other problem with
such an approach?
Bastian
--
Most legends have their basis in facts.
-- Kirk, "And The Children Shall Lead", stardate 5029.5
