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                      Bedrock Linux

Bedrock Linux 1.0beta2 Nyla


© Bedrock Linux 2012-2022
Linux® is a registered
trademark of Linus Torvalds

Bedrock Linux 1.0beta2 Nyla Concepts

The text below is an introduction too the key concepts, theory, and terminology behind Bedrock Linux 1.0beta2 Nyla.

Problem to solve

Linux software is often written or built with specific assumptions about the environment in which it will be utilized. These assumptions should hold true for a given release of a given distribution but may not hold true in other contexts. One cannot simply install a non-distro-native package and expect it to "just work". One technique which will allow software to function in a non-native distro is to segregate it from the rest of the system; for example, consider container technologies such as LXC. Utilizing these technologies, however, means the given piece of software's ability to interact with the rest of the system is severely limited, and the users' workflow must change to accommodate this. The fundamental problem Bedrock Linux is attempting to solve is how to overcome these environment conflicts without segregating the software from the rest of the system or adjusting the software to remove the assumptions. Ideally, a user should be able to take any package from any distro and install it, unmodified, in Bedrock Linux and have it "just work".

Various assumptions software often makes about its environment include but are not limited to:

While Bedrock Linux, as of 1.0beta2 Nyla, does not solve all of these kinds of problems, it does solve many of the more pressing ones. It thus allows quite a lot of software from various, typically mutually-exclusive, Linux distributions to "just work" when utilized in Bedrock Linux.

Local vs global files

If two pieces of software both require different file contents at a given path, for both to work two instances of the given file must exist such that each piece of software will see the file it expects at the given path. Bedrock Linux refers to files with this requirement as local files.

In contrast to local files are global files: files which must be the same when different pieces of software from different expected environments attempt to utilize it.

For example, /etc/apt/sources.list is a local file. Debian's apt-get and Ubuntu's apt-get should see different file contents when reading /etc/apt/sources.list, as both will have different mirrors and configuration for their package managers. Thus, if a given Bedrock Linux install has both Debian's and Ubuntu's apt-get, it will also have two copies of /etc/apt/sources.list.

/etc/passwd is a global file. When software from different distributions attempt to match a UID to a username, the pairing should be consistent.

Strata

Since a given path is not a unique identifier for a local file, something else must be used to identify which instance of the file is which. Bedrock Linux refers to this extra piece of information as the given file's stratum.

Strata are collections of files which (usually) are intended to work together; they share the same expected environment. If a given piece of software has some dependency on a local file, that dependency can (usually) be met by the software in the same stratum.

Every file in a Bedrock Linux system has an associated stratum, including global files and local files which don't actually have conflicts on disk. A given file path and stratum pair uniquely identify every file.

One can also think of strata as slices of the filesystem. Each slice is uniform in environment expectations, but they exist side-by-side and, together, make the entire system.

Strata were previously referred to as "clients", but sadly that term was found to be misleading and led to regular misunderstandings. For example, it implies a client-server relationship, when no such thing exists in Bedrock Linux. Strata is a much more fitting mental image for what is actually happening.

Singletons

Most software from different strata can be in use simultaneously. One can have, for example, two instances of vlc running at the same time from different distros. Sadly, not all software works this way. Things such as the Linux kernel and init/PID1 are singletons: you can only have one instance of it at a time.

Bedrock Linux does not restrict its users to only using one singleton, but rather only one at a time. Consider a situation where two distros each provide a Linux kernel with a feature the other one lacks (e.g. one has TOMOYO Linux while the other has systemtrace). Bedrock Linux does not do anything to allow its users to have both kernels at the same time; however, one can choose which to use on reboot. If a user would like to use TOMOYO Linux most of the time, but occasionally use systemtap to debug an issue, this is a viable option.

Another example of a singleton is the init/PID1. If a user typically prefers to use runit as their PID1, but occasionally needs systemd as a dependency for a piece of software, with Bedrock Linux the user can usually just have Void Linux provide runit, but occasionally reboot to systemd as provided by Arch Linux.

Singleton Strata Attributes

Bedrock Linux needs to track which strata are currently providing specific functionality. Such strata have special aliases used to access them. When a singleton switches to another stratum, the alias is adjusted so that it always points to the stratum providing the specific functionality.

Init Stratum

Whichever stratum is currently providing PID1 is aliased to init. If the user reboots and selects another init system, the stratum providing the chosen init system this becomes the init stratum. This information is needed to properly determine from which stratum a given init-related command (e.g. reboot) should be provided.

Global Stratum

The aforementioned global files all belong one stratum, which is aliased to global so the relevant Bedrock Linux subsystems will know where the global files. It is technically possible to copy/move the global files to another stratum and thus change the global stratum, but is generally not recommended as it is easy to botch; global is typically chosen at install time and left throughout the life of the system.

Rootfs Stratum

One stratum provides the root filesystem at very early boot time. This includes things such as /boot for the bootloader and /bedrock for the Bedrock Linux subsystems. This stratum aliased to rootfs. It is technically possible to move key files such as /bedrock to another stratum and thus change the rootfs stratum, but is generally not recommended as it is easy to botch; rootfs is typically chosen at install time and left throughout the life of the system.

Local Stratum

Software can refer to its own stratum as the local stratum; the local alias works for everything to refer to itself.

Filesystem access rules

When a program attempts to access a global file, it gets the global file - very simple. However, when it attempts to access a local file Bedrock Linux must determine which if any local file to provide so that both environment expectations are met and things interact smoothly as they would if they were all from the same distribution.

From a high-level, conceptual point of view, when a filesystem access attempt is made, Bedrock Linux goes through the following rules to determine which if any stratum should provide the given file. The end result of these rules is that various pieces of software will see the correct instance of a file if there is some associated environment expectation without constraining them such that they would lose the ability to fully interact with software from other distros.

Note that while it is useful to understand these rules to tweak or debug them, it is not expected that one keeps them in mind during typical, day-to-day Bedrock Linux usage; everything should "just work" transparently, as though all of the software in use was intended to work together.

Explicit access

The highest-priority rule is referred to as explicit access. This occurs when the stratum is specified in a Bedrock Linux specific manner. Naturally, software from other distributions are not designed to use any Bedrock Linux specific mechanisms and so they will not automatically utilize explicit access; only Bedrock Linux-aware users and software should utilize this.

For everything but execution, the desired file's path and stratum can be specified via:

/bedrock/strata/stratum-name/file-path

For example, to access specifically Crux's /etc/rc.conf file, one could use the following file path:

/bedrock/strata/crux/etc/rc.conf

Specifying a file to execute require a different access method. Instead, the given executable should be prefixed with brc stratum-name, as one would do with the sudo -u or chroot commands.

For example, to explicitly run Arch Linux's vim, one could run:

brc arch vim

These two systems can be combine. To use Arch's vim to edit Crux's /etc/rc.conf one could run:

brc arch vim /bedrock/strata/crux/etc/rc.conf

Please note that this explicit access - and the tedium which results from the extra text to associate the given stratum - is relatively rare compared to the other rules. It is primarily used as an override. For most things the system will automatically determine which stratum is appropriate from the following rules.

Direct Access

If the path to the file is specified - either the full path or a relative path - Bedrock Linux considers it direct access. A specific file was chosen - the request was not open to any file with the given name - but no stratum was specified. This generally occurs with dependencies. If, for example, specifically /usr/lib/libc-2.22.so is needed, software will access it via that path.

In these situations there is a strong possibility that the requested file is a dependency, possibly a picky one such that failing to provide the exact file will cause a failure. Here Bedrock Linux will provide the given file from the same stratum as the program which requested it, i.e. the local stratum. If apt-get from a Linux Mint stratum requests /etc/apt/sources.list, the Linux Mint copy of /etc/apt/sources.list is provided. Thus, dependencies - and hence environmental expectations - are met.

Implicit Access

Implicit access occurs when neither a specific path nor a specific stratum is provided. In these situations Bedrock Linux is afforded some freedom to chose which file from which stratum to chose. However, the possibility of a specific environment expectation remains in these situations, and thus care must be taken.

For example, if a user runs man vim, Bedrock Linux may have some choice both for which man to provide as well as which vim man page. Both the executable man and the vim man page are accessed implicitly.

Note that implicit access is always read-only.

High Implicit Access

If the given file has some expectation which Bedrock Linux cannot automatically detect via local-implicit (described below), one can configure Bedrock Linux to always implicitly provide a given file from a given stratum.

For example, the reboot command needs to be tied to the stratum providing init/PID1. An openrc-using Alpine Linux reboot will not reboot a system which has systemd as its init/PID1. Thus, Bedrock Linux can be configured to always have the reboot command provided by the init stratum.

Such configured access is refered to as high implicit access, as it has the highest priority of any of the implicit access rules.

Do note that running /usr/sbin/reboot is considered direct access; programs which attempt to run /usr/sbin/reboot (e.g. the shutdown button from a desktop environment) will get the local stratum copy and may fail to work. Sadly, Bedrock Linux's transparency breaks down here: users will be required to configure/adjust things to use implicit access in these situations. Luckily, these situations are fairly rare.

If a path is needed to for high implicit access, such as specifying a NOPASSWD item in /etc/sudoers, one can use /bedrock/brpath/pin/path-to-file. For example, to allow the user "paradigm" NOPASSWD sudo access to the reboot command, one could add the following to /etc/sudoers:

paradigm ALL=NOPASSWD: /bedrock/brpath/pin/sbin/reboot

That file will always refer to the proper reboot command associated with the current init stratum.

Direct Implicit Access

direct implicit access is utilized to cover the possibility of a dependency to something that did not use a path to specify the file. If:

Bedrock Linux checks to see if the given file exists in the local stratum. If it exists, the local copy is utilized.

For example, if a script uses #!/usr/bin/env python, the env executable will try to execute python. The script, however, may require a specific python executable, such as python 2.X vs python 3.X. If python is available locally, that version will be used to ensure the environment expectation is met.

The term direct implicit is admittedly awkward; the terminology here may change in the future.

Low Implicit Access

When a file access is attempted, and:

Then low implicit is used. With this rule, Bedrock Linux will check if any of the other strata can provide the given file. If so, that instance of the file is utilized. The order these other strata are searched is configurable; some users prefer having cutting-edge versions given a higher priority while others prefer older/stable software to take priority if available.

This rule is what allows most of the local file interaction between strata.

If a bash shell runs man vim, but only one instance of each bash, man and the vim man page exist and they're all from different strata, this rule is what allows them to all work together. A user is free to type man vim in the bash shell and the expected man page shows up - everything "just works" here despite everything being from potentially different distributions. bash and man will both see their own dependencies due to direct access that will occur in their runtime (through runtime linking, open()/read(), etc).

If a path is needed to for low implicit access, again such as specifying a NOPASSWD item in /etc/sudoers, one can use /bedrock/brpath/path-to-file (note lack of "pin/"). For example, to allow the user "paradigm" NOPASSWD sudo access to a custom wifion script which connects the system to a wireless network, one could add the following to /etc/sudoers:

paradigm ALL=NOPASSWD: /bedrock/brpath/sbin/wifion

Rule Summary

Otherwise, a file access is treated as no such file (e.g. open(2) with O_RDONLY returns ENOENT).

Under the hood

Various notes on what is going on under-the-hood for those who are curious follow. These are not intended to give a full, detailed picture, but just a general idea. This information is not required to utilize Bedrock Linux.

The specific details described above vary from release to release as better ways of solving the fundamental problem are found, and thus information such as what is described here can quickly become outdated. A full, detailed white paper is planned to be written and released when Bedrock Linux stabilizes at a 1.0 stable release. At such a time the white paper contents will be valid for a long enough time to justify the effort placed into writing it.