Re: Q: Linux rebooting directly into linux.

[ebiederm@xmission.com (Eric W. Biederman)]

Wakko Warner <wakko@animx.eu.org> writes:

> > I have recently developed a patch that allows linux to directly boot
> > into another linux kernel.  With the code freeze it appears
> > inappropriate to submit it at this time. 
> > 
> > Linus in principal do you have any trouble with this kind of
> > functionality? 
> > 
> > The immediate applications of this code, are:
> > - Clusters can network can network boot over arbitrary network
> >   interfaces, and the network driver only needs to be written and
> >   maintained in one place.
> > - Multiplatform boot loaders can be written.
> > - The Linux kernel can be included in a boot ROM and you can still
> >   boot other linux kernels.
> > - Kernel developers can have a fast interface for booting into a
> >   development kernel.
> > 
> > The interface is designed to be simple and inflexible yet very
> > powerful.  To that end the code just takes an elf binary, and a
> > command line.  The started image also takes an environment generated
> > by the kernel of all of the unprobeable hardware details.
> 
> Isn't this what milo does on alpha?

Similar milo uses kernel drivers in it's own framework.  
This has proved to be a major maintenance problem.  Milo is nearly
a kernel fork.  

The design is for the long term to get this incorporated into the
kernel, and even if not a small kernel patch should be easier to
maintain that a harness for calling kernel drivers.

Eric


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