linux-kernel - Re: [RFC] CONFIG_GENERIC_BOOTABLE

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Date:	Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:30:39 +0100
From:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
To:	Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz>
Cc:	Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Måns Rullgård <mans@...sr.com>,
	Markus Trippelsdorf <markus@...ppelsdorf.de>,
	Thomas Voegtle <tv@...96.de>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	x86-ml <x86@...nel.org>, Peter Zijlstra <a.p.zijlstra@...llo.nl>,
	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
	Jiri Olsa <jolsa@...hat.com>,
	Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@...radead.org>,
	Frédéric Weisbecker <fweisbec@...il.com>
Subject: Re: [RFC] CONFIG_GENERIC_BOOTABLE_CONFIG=y


* Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz> wrote:

> On 2016-01-19 09:20, Ingo Molnar wrote:
> > In fact on x86 I'd suggest we go farther than that and add a core set of selects 
> > that can be disabled only through a sufficiently scary "I really know I'm doing 
> > something utmost weird" (and default disabled) config option.
> 
> Agreed.
> 
> 
> > From my own randconfig testing I can give a core list of must-have kernel options, 
> > without which most distros (Fedora, RHEL, Ubuntu, SuSE) won't boot properly:
> > 
> > +config FORCE_MINIMALLY_SANE_CONFIG
> > +	bool
> > +	default y
> 
> You should add a prompt so that the option can be disabled. Or make it
> default !EXPERT, to have a single "I know what I'm doing"-type of option.

Yeah, it sure should be interactive. This was pasted from my automated testing 
that isn't interested in unbootable kernels.

So it should be something like:

	config GENERIC_BOOTABLE_CONFIG
	bool "Enable kernel options that are needed to boot typical Linux distributions"
	default y
	...

(I removed the 'SANE' naming as disabling this option is obviously not 'insane'.)

Thanks,

	Ingo