Greg Kurtzer's Ginux is now a userspace kernel

(github.com)

40 points | by d3Xt3r 1 hour ago

3 comments

  • TnS-hun 8 minutes ago
  • asdfsa32 59 minutes ago
    This is kind of the wrong approach when linux namespaces exist and rootless namespaces are approach full spectrum.
    • stingraycharles 40 minutes ago
      I’m still fascinated by the approach, though. It seems to me that it sits somewhere between cgroups and virtual machines.

      I do wonder what problem it solves, as I don’t think that it provides the same security guarantees that micro-VMs like firecracker do?

      • eddythompson80 34 minutes ago
        It’s the same approach as gVisor. Fairly decent isolation if your application can work on it, but your SOL if a scenario comes up that doesn’t work. VMs give you pretty much 100% Linux compatibility at the expense of density, optimal resource allocation and startup time. gVisor gives you excellent startup time, resource allocation and density at the expense of some app compat and performance at the extremes

        Edit: at least with gvisor you get close to a decade of work on compat. gVisor can support some rootless containers scenarios and systemd these days.

      • mbreese 11 minutes ago
        I’d be very interested in it if it started to approach VM style isolation without needing KVM access (or qemu).

        But I’m not sure if that is really possible.

        The use case I’m thinking about is a sandbox exec isolation on an HPC cluster without Docker. I know singularity/apptainer exist, but I’m always looking for something that could make that environment more flexible. It is a tight security environment, so we are always limited in what we can do.

      • photios 17 minutes ago
        I wonder if this can grow into a capability-based security tool.
    • photios 19 minutes ago
      > Telling someone's research and exploration is wrong...

      Never change, HN, never change :D

  • up2isomorphism 1 hour ago
    The issue with this kind of thing is nobody will take it seriously.
    • mbreese 1 hour ago
      Why? Because a user space kernel is a bad idea? Or because of the AI use when writing it?

      I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it is.

      • up2isomorphism 54 minutes ago
        Why should someone spend anytime on this kind of technical piece that is not created by human? Think about what you will get from this, the answer is pretty obvious.