[Xen-devel] Re: [Xen-users] How long is a kernel supported?

["Henning Sprang" <henning_sprang@xxxxxx>]

I also also copy this message to xen-devel, because developers should
say something about this.

On 11/19/06, Goran <xamiw@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> [...]
> A. How long will be Xen 3.0.3_0 supported?
If "support" means for you something like bugfix or security releases
that keep most of the API and configuration, I have not seen such
thing in Xen 3. Each release is significantly different in terms of
kernel-version and -configuration (xend and vm configs keep _mostly_
the same), even if the developers decide to go only minor steps in the
version numbers, which I really don't understand because the common
conception of minor version changes is that only bad bugs and security
problems get fixed, everything else keeps the same.
I've not seen any security release in these terms and my questions
about these things on xen-devel remained unanswerded.

Maybe you need to buy the Enterprise version and buy support to get
information about these things and to get security updates (hmm, but
if they give security updates to the kernel to customers, they have to
make them public, also.)

On the other hand, I've not heard from xen security problems until
now, but that's a bad reason to have no security information for users
at all.

> B. How long will I be able to compile Xen-able linux-kernels ver.
> 2.6.16.xy with Xen 3.0.3_0?
I don't understand this question exactly. As far as I understand it:
I've not seen a Xen Release where only the Kernel was updated.
Trying to use an other Kernel means, you have to see yourself to get
the most current Xen patches into the Kernel, and you probably have to
work with testing/unstable Xen and Xen kernel Versions.

> C. Will I be able to compile Xen-able linux-kernels ver. 2.6.16.xy with
> other versions than Xen 3.0.3_0?
The developers can tell about the future, in the past, later versions
of Xen where incompatible to older Kernels AFAIK. And the Xen Linux
Patches where for exact the Linux version that comes with the sources.

It would be really nice to hear comments from the developers here.
Maybe they hear and reply one day.


Henning

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