** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided => High -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1415634
Title: RFC: replace linux-virtual with linux-server / tune kernel packages Status in linux package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: We currently build 2 meta packages for easy consumption and automatic kernel upgrades. These are linux-virtual and linux-generic. The -virtual meta package was created with the general purpose of "support virtual environments", and then extended to include "and common cloud workloads" (adding things like rdb and kvm). Would it be possible to find a happy medium where we had enough drivers to enable network and block devices and essential server devices but maintained a reasonable install size ? That would enable us to create one set of images for use in cloud enviroments be they on bare metal or hypervisors. As an example of sizes collected from a cloud image, we have: release | kernel | apt inst| initrd | /lib/modules vivid | linux-virtual | 125M | 8M | 34M vivid | linux-generic | 358M | 27M | 193M trusty | linux-virtual | 119M | 7M | 31M trusty | linux-generic | 337M | 24M | 184M 'apt inst' is as reported by apt install after 'apt-get --purge ^linux-.*' vivid version 3.18.0.11, trusty version 3.13.0.44.51. both packages share the linux kernel binary which in this case is 5.6M on trusty and 6.3M on vivid. For a cloud image with default install in the 700M range, the difference between -virtual and -generic is considerable. So it clearly has its value. However, this value comes at the cost of specialization. If a user installs a server via MAAS or via ISO, they get linux-generic and have some set of modules/kernel function. If they run a cloud image, they have a different set. This is less than desireable as we'd like to say that both cases are "Ubuntu Server". It also means that we have to build "maas images" which are primarily "cloud images with a hardware kernel". To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1415634/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
