[arch-dev-public] Fwd: Non-core kernel

[Jan Alexander Steffens]

Greetings, friends,

I recently noticed we have community/linux-grsec. Do we have a stance
on additional kernels? I vaguely remember some stigma against it but
not the details. Maybe I'm completely wrong.

If it is agreeable, I would like to bring the ZEN kernel[1] into
either [extra] or [community]. I co-maintain this kernel fork and
currently release packages into my personal repository[2].

I use this kernel on all three of my Linux machines: A Schenker S413
(Clevo W740SU) ultrabook, a Zotac EI750 workstation and an ASUS Eee
Box B202 internet gateway. None use out-of-tree modules.

ZEN follows the same stable versions as core/linux but merges in a few
additional features and drivers. It also carries a handful of fixes
and performance tweaks. The BBS topic[2] lists the major differences.
The configuration of my builds is mostly identical to core/linux.
There are no packages of out-of-tree modules for this kernel and I
would not add any to our repositories.

Talking to Allan revealed that we once had a number of patch sets.
However, apparently this lead to problems with sorting out
kernel-specific bugs. My response would be getting people to reproduce
with core/linux (which should be easier thanks to the mostly-identical
config) and sending them to ZEN's issue tracker if they have
ZEN-specific bugs.

Qapla' batlh je! qatlho',
Jan

[1]: https://github.com/zen-kernel/zen-kernel
[2]: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=117157