Subject: Re: [vserver] Roadmap and Future ...
From: "Michael S. Zick" <mszick@morethan.org>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:42:46 -0600

On Thu February 26 2009, Herbert Poetzl wrote:
> 
> Dear Linux-VServer Community!
> 
> Every now and then I get asked what the Roadmap for
> Linux-VServer is and what Features or Changes can be
> expected in the near (and far) future, so I decided
> to share my thoughts with you on the ML.
> 
> (note that they are not just Roadmap related :)
> 
> First, Linux-VServer is not dead! :)
> 
> Despite the hype (7 and 2 years ago), mainline
> (i.e. kernel.org) is not nearly ready to replace the
> quite complex mechanisms required to build and run 
> an isolated Guest, as Linux-VServer (and similar
> Projects) provide.
> 
> Second, as the number of Linux-VServer kernel
> hackers is still quite small, and a lot of changes
> in mainline require quite some testing to get a new
> Stable Version, I think we need to find a new 
> revenue strain to get that work done.
> 

In part, because Linux-VServer uses a closed repository.

Why not move the repository to a public readable/clonable
SCM at any of the many sites that host such things (for free).

Give people a chance to work on it and submit fixes/changes -
then you might get more development help.

Mike
> To complicate things, my wife and I relocated to a
> new, old house, which needs a lot of work, and we
> still need to sell the old one (more to that at the
> end of this posting)
> 
> One proposal I have (which was actually tested over
> the years, and seems to work - at least for me) would
> be that Companies using Linux-VServer get some kind
> of 'Service Contract' with a Developer (which is a
> good thing anyway), ranging between a single hour 
> per month up to a day per week, for, let's say 100 
> EUR per hour, which can be consumed or not, where in
> the latter case, this time will be spent on general
> Linux-VServer development and testing. (if you like
> that idea, please contact me and I'm certain we can
> arrange something)
> 
> The big advantage over occasional donations is that
> the developer can 'somewhat' rely on that income and
> does not need to 'hope' for an upcoming donation.
> 
> Now for the Roadmap: 
> 
> I think what we need most in the near future is a
> new, well tested stable release, which can be adopted
> by distributions and which will be maintained for
> a reasonable amount of time, and that's actually what
> I'm working on whenever time permits.
> 
> New features will mainly include adaptations of 'old'
> features, lost and forgotten over time, and improve-
> ments on the mainline integration (like cgroups and
> such), as well as some virtualizations to simplify
> handling and make it more guest friendly.
> 
> One upcoming mainline feature which I will try to
> integrate as soon as it is available is the check-
> pointing and resume functionality.
> 
> I also plan to do a web frontend to control basic
> functionality and a minimalistic host distribution
> to run Linux-VServer Guests on, but I have no idea 
> when I will find time for that.
> 
> Finally, as usual, input here is welcome, so if you
> have an isolation feature you want to see really soon,
> or further questions, please let me know.
> 
> 
> thanks in advance,
> Herbert
> 
> 
> 
> Regarding the old house we are trying to sell:
> 
> I created a web page which will contain all required
> information for a buyer, and I'd like to promote that
> page (especially in and around Austria), so some link
> to that page would probably help a lot for major search
> engines to pick it up, i.e. what I am asking is that
> if you have a site where you can put a link to it, that
> would be really appreciated.
> 
> 	http://www.reihenendhaus.at
> (means end-of-terrace house in german)
> 
> sensible keywords would include:
> Laaben, Reihenhaus, Garten, Siedlung, Verkauf 
> 
> 
> 
>