Re: Re: Xen 3.0 for OpenBSD

[Dave Feustel <dfeustel@verizon.net>]

On Tuesday 25 October 2005 09:44, Mark Williamson wrote:
> > On 10/12/05, Dave Feustel <dfeustel@verizon.net> wrote:
> > > I figure if I take this path, I'm on my own, but I am starting to feel
> > > like maybe I could do it. But then I could be wrong too. Only way to find
> > > out is at some point to try. I certainly will learn a lot about the guts
> > > of OpenBSD that way. :-)
> >
> > Good luck. Great thing about Xen, will make it easy to test without
> > taking down your computer. Plus it makes it easy for other people to
> > try.
> 
> Using OpenBSD should be possible under VT. 

Probably true for those with new Intel VT-enabled processors. I will be 
getting an  AMD processor which has Pacifica, which is not identical in 
features to  Intel's VT. So I have doubts about running OpenBSD in virtual 
mode on  AMD64-Pacifica unless specific support for Pacifica is present in Xen.

> Regarding a port of OBSD to Xen, I  
> don't think anybody has worked on it yet.  The code from the other BSD ports 
> will be useful (due to compatible licensing).  It's not clear how much OBSD 
> and NetBSD have diverged, though - the code probably won't just "slot in" 
> anyhow :-(

I expect to run an *unmodified* OpenBSD using Xen's hardware support for 
virtualization via Pacifica. I hope I am not living in airborne castles!
> 
> Personally, I've observed quite a lot of hostility to Xen among OBSD community 
> people, largely due to what I'd call "religious objections", which is a 
> shame.

You are not alone! And not just about Xen either! I ignore it.

I think the OpenBSD developers are focused upon server enhancements.
I think they will get much more interested in Xen if they see a use for
it in OpenBSD server operations.

> None of these people are necessarily "important" though, they're just  
> the ones I've heard something definitive from.  Although this is probably 
> just a vocal minority, there certainly don't seem to be the positive vibes 
> that you see in some other OS communities (like the other BSDs) - I guess if 
> someone stepped up with (at least an offer of) some code, one might get a 
> more concrete reaction from developers.

I will have a very strong incentive to get OpenBSD running on Xen when I
finally have both a Pacifica-enabled AMD64 system and a copy of the source
tree of Xen with Pacifica support.
 
Dave Feustel
> Cheers,
> Mark
> 

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