Xen support without reinventing the wheel

[Eric S. Johansson]

Matthew Palmer wrote:

> kernel-package has supported building Xen kernels for a while now.  The
> standard way is to build a kernel-patch-xen from the Xen sources, and then
> apply that to the regular Ubuntu-provided kernel source.

ok, I'll look into it.

> The existing Debian packages for Xen provide this side of the coin quite
> well, and I don't think there's any need to radically change things here.

good to know.

>> I would suggest discussing this activity on a transient mailing list 
>> (quicktopics.com which is run by a friend of mine comes to mind) so we 
>> wouldn't annoy the people here.
> 
> No, keep it here.  It's Ubuntu development, and the idea of a "transient"
> mailing list just gives me the willies.  It takes a good couple of days to
> get any sensible number of people subscribed, and momentum isn't something
> you can just pause.  Also, MLs get good when they get wide-spread publicity,
> and a transient list would have no permanence and hence no publicity.  Also,
> a major benefit of mailing lists is their archives; I'd imagine that a
> transient list would have it's archives blotted after a while (and even if
> they weren't, if the list itself is gone, then if the question isn't
> answered in the archives, where do you go?).

nice theory but unfortunately my experience and practice shows that it 
doesn't work quite like that.  In the beginning the IPCop developers 
mailing list was nice and focused.  now it's almost as cluttered as the 
users list and there is now a IPCop-Core list for people who have done 
active development.

the thought behind the transient list was for expediting communications 
between people actively doing development.  The end result of that 
activity would be then publicized on the users list and non-developer 
conversation would take place here.  personally, I don't worry too much 
about archives on a transient list especially for targeted projects.  In 
general, the archives are pretty much useless if you haven't lived the 
life.  Archiving becomes important on the user lists which is where 
people ask "how can I" questions which have answers usable to many people.

> 
>> are we ready to move forward?
> 
> To where?  My suggestion would be to look at the existing Debian stuff, and
> if it is deficient in some area, identify the deficiency and work out some
> way to fix it.  Then fix it.

enough people have been asking about xen that I was wondering if people 
were ready to move forward and commit time and energy to solving the 
problems, the very shortcomings you refer to.

remember, work doesn't get done unless it's funded either directly or 
indirectly.  maybe my question would better be worded; how are people 
willing to fund making xen work?  Money or effort?

--- eric
--- eric