Re: [uml-user] UML vs installing things in home directory

[Benedict V. <ben...@gm...>]

Giovanni Funchal wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm stuck with an old red hat pc at work (on which I don't have root
> access). Now I'm wanting to install a certain program, but after
> checking it would require updating lots of dependences including libc,
> binutils, gcc, etc. I could go for the old "./configure
> --prefix=$HOME; make install" everything from scratch, but it takes a
> lot of time and might not work.
> 
> Worse, if the system administrator decides to (finally) update
> something like the kernel, it would break everything.
> 
> So, I'm looking for virtualization as an alternative. This way, I
> could use apt-get or similar to install everything I need inside the
> virtual machine.
> 
> Having used VMWare in the past, I know it has very good performance,
> but needs root privileges to install. I was thinking of using UML or
> QEMU. The question is: Do it fits to my needs and any advices?
> 
> Thanks and best regards,
> -- Giovanni

I think UML would fit the bill but for good performance, you would need 
the skas3 or skas 4 patch compiled in the kernel. Since you don't have 
root access, how are you going to get a decent kernel to support UML?

If you can get your administrator to install such a new kernel, then you 
could get UML running and do as you want.

Regards,
Benedict