Saturday, May 23, 2020

Baremetal Hypervisor for Home Computers

The idea is a Linux distribution for a hypervisor for desktop machines, but where all daily driver desktop features are done through virtual machines. The specific challenge is in high levels of efficciency for hardware passthrough.

Use a Type 1 Hypervisor like Parallels

(Or something like that.) Use Xen virtualization, and perhaps Alpine Linux with perhaps a simplified Sway window manager.

Remove Excesses from Host

No server-related binaries required. Only distribute hardware resources and/or provide passthrough. Wireless, Printers, Audio, Drivers, ETC.

Add Minimal Kiosk-like fullscreen GUI for VM Selection and Creation

No Window Manager that shows. . . If using sway, then create keyboard shortcuts, and limit capabilities such that it is not obvious. Limit 1 application per workspace, and hide window decorations and borders.
  1. Turn on your computer
  2. Log in or Auto Log in
  3. Get presented with fullscreen buttons for starting different guest operating systems like a graphical boot menu
  4. Or go to a screen with graphical features like VirtualBox

Seemless Switching Between Guests

Simple hardware or keystroke switching that does not overlap with Guest OS

Everything Else if/when Possible

  • Copy/Paste between guests
  • Shared virtual drives
  • Networking

No comments: