[Pkg-xen-devel] NetworkManager problems with xen bridging

[Sally-Anne Edwards]

On Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 11:38 AM, Ian Jackson <Ian.Jackson at eu.citrix.com> wrote:
> Sally-Anne Edwards writes ("[Pkg-xen-devel] NetworkManager problems with xen bridging"):
>> This all seems quite messy.  NetworkManager seems to be installed by
>> default in lenny.  Is it safe to remove with dpkg --purge?
>
> Is n-m really installed (and started) by default ?  If so then I would
> hope there is some way for other packages to hit it on the head.  Xen
> is far from the only situation where n-m's crazy behaviours are going
> to cause trouble.
>

It was quite a surprise - I've never seen this Network Manager before.
 The bridge behaviour seemed very erratic until I discovered the
cause.

Won't other Debian users be surprised by this behaviour when they do
their first fresh install of Lenny?  Someone who has been running sid
and never done a fresh install of lenny will not see Network Manager
at all unless they ask for it.  The reason I posted these questions is
because it seems like an issue that other people will face.  For every
one person who posts an issue here, there could be 100 people who try
it and give up.

I've tried VMWare workstation and ESX, both work almost out of the
box.  Xen works, and is technically superior with para-virtualization,
but it worries me a little that people won't be able to get it up and
running just as easily.

The VMWare float was one of the most successful in recent history,
demonstrating that virtualization is in demand. Why, then, is Debian
risking a `stable' release without full support for the open source
alternative, Xen?  Missing kernels, clashes with Network Manager, and
no sample config for the user who needs to run some Windows
application and wants to waste the minimal amount of time getting it
running.

It looks like people have worked very hard to bring it to this point -
it would be a shame not to go that little bit further to maximise the
chance of successful deployment.

This article talks a little about VMWare - they actually upped their
asking price at a time when the credit crunch was supposed to be
taking money out of the markets, doesn't that suggest virtualization
is what people want?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2260828.ece