I have been thinking, that it would be a very nice thing to be able to
"unload" the running kernel, and replace it with a new version without
requiering a reboot.
This is way out of my league, but here are my thoughts about it:
- The kernel should copy a small (minnimal) version of itself to unused
memory, and transfer control to that region. The minimal kernel should
suspend all running programs, put network connections on hold and so on.
- The minimal kernel should then free all mem occupied by the previous
kernel (itself), and load the new kernel into memory.
- When control is transfered to the new kernel, it should continue all
suspended programs, and continue any existing network connections and so
on (it should ofcourse also unload the minimal kernel)...
This would enable a system administrator to compile and test a new
kernel on a test machine, and subsequently update his mission-critical
machine without rebooting.
As previously stated, this is *way* out of my league, and I don't have
the neccesary skills and knowledge (yet) to start such a project, but I
think it would be a really usefull feature (am I completely wrong
here???). Think about it.
Kind regards
Jesper Juhl - [jesper@testhouse.dk]
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