Frequently Asked Questions
This document relays guiding principles, practices, policies, code of conduct, organization, and processes of the eLxr open source project. The eLxr open source project does not plan to handle money or become a non-profit organization. Therefore, no legal entity or bylaws are required. While a complete governance is not required at a project’s launch, it’s mission and key governance foundations should be communicated (expectations for behavior, contributor process, decision-making processes, initial key roles).
Overview
Q: What is eLxr?
A: eLxr is an enterprise-grade Linux distribution based on the new community-driven Debian derivative eLxr Project, driving rapid innovation for edge-to-cloud deployments.
Q: What is the eLxr Project?
A: The eLxr Project is an open source initiative to facilitate the adoption of enterprise-grade Linux for edge-to-cloud use cases. It consists of an eLxr community and an eLxr operating system. The eLxr community adds to thousands of volunteers around the world working together on the Debian operating system, prioritizing free and open source software. The eLxr operating system is a free Linux distribution supporting edge-to-cloud deployments and intelligent edge applications. It is developed and maintained as a Debian derivative.
Q: What does the name “eLxr” mean?
A: The letters forming the project name eLxr stand for: e – embedded, edge, enterprise; Lx – Linux; r – reliable, resilient, real-time, robust, right-sized. It described the scalability of a Linux distribution, from edge to enterprise cloud, and its most important qualities. At the same time, you can think about the definition of an “elixir” as a substance distilled from multiple ingredients, just as this Debian-based distribution is a subset of the universal OS.
Q: What is the eLxr Project’s mission?
A: The eLxr Project’s mission is centered on accessibility, innovation, and maintaining the integrity of open source software when enabling edge-to-cloud workloads. Making these advancements freely available in an enterprise-grade Debian derivative ensures that users benefit without proprietary restrictions.
Q: What is the eLxr Project’s main goal?
A: The project’s goal is to emphasize ease of adoption alongside open source principles. It aims to attract a broad range of users and contributors who value both innovation and community-driven development, fostering collaboration and transparency and the spread of new technologies.
Q: What are the primary use cases?
A: eLxr provides a unified approach to intelligent edge-to-cloud deployments, powering on-prem or near-edge server deployments with specific applications to aggregate and process collected data and to orchestrate device updates at scale. eLxr delivers a strategic advantage for enterprises aiming to optimize their edge deployments, creating a seamless operating environment across devices and setting the foundation for future innovations in intelligent edge-to-cloud deployments.
Q: Why is this eLxr initiative being launched now?
A: There is an emerging market segment opportunity arising because current solutions are either too much or too little to handle server workloads at the intelligent edge. More intelligent devices are deploying at the far edge, requiring greater synergies with the near edge. Devices and servers at the edge require seamless connectivity; data integration; real-time decision-making; and greater computer power to gather, extract, aggregate, and process sensing data.
Community
Q: Who is behind this initiative launch and announcement?
A: Wind River® and partners are supporting this new open source initiative. The eLxr Project supporter organizations are committed to active participation in full transparency, fostering collaboration and partnership with a single goal: to enable proliferation of Debian-based distributions for edge-to-cloud deployments. These will include activities around Debian participation: regular code contributions, bug fixes, and overall improvement to the Debian Project.
Q: How are the project leaders and maintainers going to work with Debian?
A: Some of the activities and contributions from the eLxr Project to Debian include but are not limited to:
- Participation in Debian SIGs (Special Interest Groups) and mailing lists
- Sharing development roadmaps, release notes, and project updates openly
- Using public repositories and conducting open reviews
- Collaborating with other Debian developers and member organizations to codevelop features
- Engaging in partnerships that enhance the Debian ecosystem
Q: What was the initial community feedback about the eLxr Project open source initiative?
A: Debian preliminary feedback was promising where this open source project could address the growing need for an agile Linux server at the edge.
Q: Which other companies/organizations might participate in the eLxr Project and why?
A: The eLxr Project is an open source initiative, meaning that different entities (commercial companies, individuals) can participate and contribute. Participation is encouraged; as a Debian derivative, the eLxr Project will be 100% compatible with Debian upstream but tuned for intelligent edge use cases with enterprise-grade Linux for edge-to-cloud deployments.
Q: Why isn’t the eLxr Project a Debian pure blend?
A: The Debian pure blend is a more restrictive subset of the Debian universal system, which allows for focused innovation in specific areas but lacks the flexibility and fast-paced innovation that comes with a Debian derivative such as eLxr.
Q: Will the eLxr community be under a well-known umbrella foundation, such as the Linux Foundation?
A: Not currently. Affiliation will be considered. However, because eLxr is a Debian derivative, any affiliation will most likely be associated with the Debian Project – something to be decided by the eLxr Project steering committee once it assembles.
Technical
Q: What will be the eLxr kernel approach, in comparison with the Debian kernel?
A: The eLxr community will ensure kernel compatibility with Debian packages and will implement continuous integration to maintain compatibility and stability. It will align eLxr kernel updates with Debian’s release cycle and upstream releases to ensure long-term support and timely security patches.
Q: Are the target hardware platforms for the near edge mostly general-purpose hardware used in the data center?
A: Yes, the hardware is very similar to COTS used in data centers. However, with the proliferation of workloads at the edge, some new form factors are emerging with a focus on cost-effectiveness and ruggedized format for long-term service in various environments at the edge.
Q: Would open source hardware support be available?
A: Everything supported by Debian should work with eLxr.
Q: For small resource footprint, will eLxr support 32-bit libraries packages?
A: Although this is technically possible with Debian, and the eLxr Project will be a derivative of it, the x86_32 is not yet considered for eLxr.
Q: Many Linux users are using Ubuntu and Debian base, with CUDA related for AI. Are there any limitations in using CUDA (NVIDIA) on eLxr?
A: The project plans to enable, validate, and support AI-accelerator technologies and frameworks such as CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenVINO (Intel). There are some redistribution issues that will have to be addressed, but we plan to facilitate access to these hardware vendor-hero features, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with these vendors under the eLxr Project.