Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:02:03 +1100 From: Antony Mawer <fbsd-hackers@mawer.org> To: Jordan Gordeev <jgordeev@dir.bg> Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: vkernel & GSoC, some questions Message-ID: <47E03BDB.40406@mawer.org> In-Reply-To: <47E0182F.3060606@dir.bg> References: <200803172158.m2HLwPSI021438@apollo.backplane.com> <E1JbWLD-000ALT-00.shmukler-mail-ru@f131.mail.ru> <200803181806.m2II6OMc031236@apollo.backplane.com> <47E0182F.3060606@dir.bg>
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Jordan Gordeev wrote: > Matthew Dillon wrote: >> We use vkernel's for development and debugging. >> ... >> One interesting side-effect of having a vkernel so easily accessible >> is that it opens up kernel development to normal programmers. More >> DragonFly developers have been dipping their fingers into the kernel >> code in the last 6 months then in all the time before then. That >> alone >> justifies the time spent doing it. Except for hardware device driver >> development, the agonizing engineering cycle for kernel development >> is completely gone now. >> > I have thought of the vkernel primarily as an aid to kernel development > (where performance is not a prime concern), not as a virtualisation > solution that will compete with Xen and VMWare. It's difficult to > compete with thousands of men-hours paid by corporate funding. > > So far nobody has expressed interest in vkernels as a tool for kernel > development. And I got the general impression that I've proposed > something stupid and useless. I can see this would be advantageous for lowering the barrier for kernel development. The easier this is made, the better chance we have of people having a go at fixing issues in some of the unmaintained bits and pieces out there. I recall trying to take the leap into kernel development some years back to fix some issues in NWFS and SMBFS; even though I was using VMware for testing, I still found the whole compile/install/reboot test cycle a bit tedious. If it were a matter of just Ctrl-C'ing a kernel and then waiting 5 seconds or a new one to boot up, while still having the rest of the machine available "outside" to view/edit source at the same time, it would be much simpler... -- Antony
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