linux-kernel - Re: [RFC] CONFIG_GENERIC_BOOTABLE

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Message-ID: <CA+55aFxXuZhVoQfKCAHT9tmotGmie=dxHZop2e=9d3VbRPxsUw@mail.gmail.com>
Date:	Tue, 19 Jan 2016 09:22:38 -0800
From:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
Cc:	Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz>, Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>,
	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 Mailing List <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

On Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 2:30 AM, Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org> wrote:
>
>
> 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'.)

I think we should just make it distro-specific rather than claiming it
is generic (and inevitably failing).

So we could have a config option for SYSTEMD, which selects stuff
systemd wants, and then distros that use systemd can select that etc.

It shouldn't be about just bootability either. Some of the networking
options end up being security-critical (ie your firewall might not
work if you don't have the right options enabled, leaving you wide
open after you boot).

Done right, you should be able to

 (a) select your CPU (and things like "do you want virtualization etc")
 (b) select your distro
 (c) select your drivers

and pretty much be done with it.

            Linus