Kirk, Not really answering either question, but on the topic of Q2, the recent port of Open Solaris to System z was done only under z/VM, with no attempt to get it to run under LPAR mode because of the increased amount of work LPAR mode would have added (paraphrased from the company that did the porting work). Now that the hard part of getting Linux to run in an LPAR has been done, I don't see the need to eliminate it, but it would be interesting to see the percentage of Linux on z usage in LPAR vs z/VM.
Wayne Driscoll Product Developer JME Software LLC NOTE: All opinions are strictly my own. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kirk Wolf Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 8:54 AM To: IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU Subject: Open z architecture and Linux questions The general discussion on IBM-MAIN of whether the z architecture is "open" or not leads me to wonder a bit about Linux on system z. Perhaps those more experienced with Linux on system z can help me understand a couple of things. AFAIK: 1) Linux for system z is still able to run on raw LPARs, without z/VM 2) IBM contributes kernel patches and tool chain code to support the z instruction set, under the GPL So: Q1) Are any closed/proprietary instructions and hardware interfaces used? I would guess that SIE would not be *executed* by Linux, but are others? If so, does contribution of code under the GPL that "links" to closed/proprietary interfaces imply anything? Q2) Might we expect that eventually Linux on system z will require z/VM, so that "platform enablement" (for the kernel and device drivers) can be moved into "closed" DIAG instructions so that IBM can further protect its IP? Would that be accepted to the Linux kernel folks? Kirk Wolf ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
