linux-kernel - Merge Xen (the hypervisor) into Linux

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Date:	Wed, 3 Jun 2009 01:28:43 +0200
From:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...e.hu>
To:	Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>
Cc:	George Dunlap <george.dunlap@...citrix.com>,
	David Miller <davem@...emloft.net>,
	"jeremy@...p.org" <jeremy@...p.org>,
	Dan Magenheimer <dan.magenheimer@...cle.com>,
	"avi@...hat.com" <avi@...hat.com>,
	"xen-devel@...ts.xensource.com" <xen-devel@...ts.xensource.com>,
	"x86@...nel.org" <x86@...nel.org>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Keir Fraser <Keir.Fraser@...citrix.com>,
	"torvalds@...ux-foundation.org" <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	"gregkh@...e.de" <gregkh@...e.de>,
	"kurt.hackel@...cle.com" <kurt.hackel@...cle.com>,
	Ian Pratt <Ian.Pratt@...citrix.com>,
	"xen-users@...ts.xensource.com" <xen-users@...ts.xensource.com>,
	ksrinivasan <ksrinivasan@...ell.com>,
	"EAnderson@...ell.com" <EAnderson@...ell.com>,
	"wimcoekaerts@...mekes.net" <wimcoekaerts@...mekes.net>,
	Stephen Spector <stephen.spector@...rix.com>,
	"jens.axboe@...cle.com" <jens.axboe@...cle.com>,
	"npiggin@...e.de" <npiggin@...e.de>
Subject: Merge Xen (the hypervisor) into Linux

* Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org> wrote:

> Now here's a crazy solution. Merge the Xen hypervisor into Linux 
> ;-)

That's not that crazy - it's the right technical solution if DOM0 is 
desired for upstream. From what i've seen in DOM0 land the incestous 
dependencies are really only long-term manageable if the whole thing 
is in a single tree.

A lot of Xen legacies could be dropped: the crazy ring1 hack on 
32-bit, the various wide interfaces to make pure-software 
virtualization limp along. All major CPUs shipped with hardware 
virtualization support in the past 2-3 years, so the availability of 
VMX and SVM can be taken for granted for such a project.

That cuts down on a fair amount of crap. A lot of code on the Linux 
side could be reused, and a pure CONFIG_PCI=y (all other things 
disabled) would provide a "slim hypervisor" instance with a very 
small and concentrated code base. (That 'slim hypervisor' might even 
be built with CONFIG_NOMMU.)

That way dom0 would be a natural extension: a minimal interface 
between Linux-Xen-minimal and the dom0 guest instance.

It's a sane technical model IMO, and makes dom0 a lot more 
palatable. Having in-tree competition to KVM would also obviously be 
good to Linux in general.

	Ingo
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