[wplug] kernels

[Bill Moran]

Chris Romano <romano.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry Bill I didn't mean to send that to you.

np

> 
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 15:07:17 -0400, Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Chris Romano <romano.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Because the list is so quiet today, I will throw this out to everyone
> > > to see what they think.  I have been thinking about this lately.
> > >
> > > Will kernels become interchangable?  The next version of Novell's
> > > server OS will include the netware kernel and the linux kernel.  With
> > > the BSDs working on running Linux apps, and the possibility of Sun
> > > opening up Solaris, that list could grow.  Will you be able to
> > > download the Distro of choice and pick the kernel that you want?  So
> > > all the apps stay the same but just different kernels?
> >
> > This would be a logical next step, and A Good Thing(tm) in my
> > opinion.
> >
> > Since one of the primary goals of a kernel is to abstract the userland
> > software from the hardware, it would make sense that each hardware
> > manufacturer could generate their own kernel.  Then you could install
> > whatever userland you preferred on top of that, and be happy.
> >
> > Obviously, the world isn't that ideal.  The BSD kernels don't even
> > do syscalls quite the same way the Linux kernels do, and there are
> > certain features that the BSDs have that Linux doesn't (kqueues,
> > for example) and I'm sure there are features that that each different
> > kernel has that not all others have.
> >
> > So, I don't think it will ever get to the point of kernels being
> > completely interchangable.  I do think that we already have an
> > excellent amount portability.  Look at how many programs were
> > designed for Linux that complile and run just fine on FreeBSD!
> > Look at how much OSS stuff builds and runs without problems on
> > Solaris.
> 
> I completely agree and hope that it goes that way, but I don't see it
> happening anytime soon.  Although, I don't think that hardware venders
> should create/maintain their own kernels.   I think that doing that
> would be to hard to switch hardware platforms and such.  Where would
> you draw the line to who has their own kernel?  Any/All CPU,
> motherboard, SCSI, encryption chips, GPU, etc manufactors or companies
> that sell complete machines like Dell, IBM, SUN, HP, etc?
> 
> Chris
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-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com