Why isn't running a virtual host as your main OS a thing?

Try NixOS

>>61930765
That's the plan for my next server, and it is a thing, it's called a type 1 hypervisor. What you normally think of as a VMM is a type 2 hypervisor.

>>61930778
Not exactly what i had in mind, but very interesting nonetheless! Will probably give it a try

>>61931086
Exactly, thanks man, didnt know this existed. Which os will you use as your type 1 hypervisor?

>>61930765
except it is
qubes os did that a while ago and it does it pretty well

>>61931117
I'm just going for a minimum Debian install with KVM.

>>61930765
>Why aren't there virtual host OS's

But there are?
Server grade gahnoo+loonix OS' all offer out-of-the-box virtual machine host metapackages via kvm or xen.

>>61930765
windows shit itself. I mean any of my windows machines can't stand more then 2 weeks. I have tried simple virtualbox hosting, but for me it's easier to just use linux with xen and on win on linux. (i need unity and vs)

>>61931206
>>61931121
>>61931218

Oy vey, it seems that i missed all of this

Then why isnt this more popular? Setting virtual machines up requires minimum computer knowledge

>>61930765
How efficient is this?

>>61930765
I do not understand: why does one do this? What is the benefit?

>>61931543
Safety, security, convenience (once everything is set up)

>>61930765
pretty common business practise, vmware and other vendors offer this

usually people on /g/ dont do this because of "muh games" but now that gpu passthrough technology is pretty decent you really only need semi decent know how and a little bit of time

Android?

>>61930765
I do so. ALL my essentials are on vms. My host is quite an empty machine.. Due to work related specifics I run on windows. Hyper v.

>>61930765
It is a thing and now more than ever with gpu passthrough.

>>61931541
~98% (benchmarked) performance of native. Real world performance difference is unnoticeable for me.
This is with a real GPU though, emulating one is the slowest part of a virtual machine by far.

>>61931679
GPU passthrough is a thing ain't it? I don't see this being a problem if the server OS doesn't have to render anything.

>>61931541
>>>61930765 (OP)
>How efficient is this?
Ssd and bare metal hypervisor is very efficient

>>61930765
Huh, of course that exists. In Linux distros (even with cloud orchestration) & in xen.

The containerized Linux also are doing what you describe, just on a container not VM level.

>>61931357
It isnt more popular because hardware with good virtualization potential is expensive. For example gpu passrthrought is not avalaible for all mobos/processors and it requires a lot of work.

>>61931756
Makes sense

Thanks bud

>>61931650
GPU passthrough is a meme. No sane self-respecting person is going to deal with that shit, esp now that some fucker speculated about using VMs for cheating (VAC already refuses to work in VMs, other anti-cheats will surely follow).

>>61931873
>everything I don't like is a meme
ebin!

>>61931900
no it is a meme, it has its niche uses but why the fuck would you use it on a regular workstation? thats some next level autism.

>>61931900
I literally named 2 reasons (complicated setup, anti-cheats) why it's shit and why it will never catch up with normies. >>61931756 names another. There's more (cost, overhead) too.
Being this retarded, I bet you shill for AMD too.

>>61931924
Nobody said anything about using PCIe passthrough on a workstation.

>>61931873
Is the best choice actually. But the gpu vendors makes it very fucking hard and we dont have a practical implementation yet. I believe in 4-6 years would be more common and easy.

>>61931939
2 reasons you don't like don't make it a meme.
>Being this retarded, I bet you shill for AMD too.
I don't shill for anything.

>>61931973
They're pretty objective reasons though.

>>61931949
It'll get easier, and mobo/gpu vendors (lol nVidia's GBM support) will eventually make the support for it more commonplace, sure, but no normie will ever be able to justify dealing with 2 GPUs just so he can use Linux as a main driver when he can just do it natively.

>>61932041
>harder to setup
Not really valid, it's a one time thing. It's not like you have to go through everything every time you use your computer.
>muh gaymes
So is VAC a Valve game thing or a Steam thing? If it's the prior, it's not really much of an issue as of now. Even so, PCIe passthrough has more uses than games.

>>61932074
> harder to setup
Installing Windows is still easier
> muh gaymes
VAC is a Valve game thing, but it's likely that other multiplayer games with anti-cheat technologies will adopt this approach too. Now, anti-cheats are retarded, but companies still elect to use them, and there's little we can do.
Also, don't denuvo and other anti-tampers have problems with running in virtualized environments? They should, technically

What about
> Shitty hardware support (especially on laptops)
> Having to set up 2 GPUs, one of which needs a separate screen attached (you could use a local SPICE socket, but that's more overhead and SPICE clients aren't that good at forwarding input).

And what other uses would PCIe pass-through would have as far as your average person is concerned? Even in datacenter environments you would be okay with virgl-accelerated VMs in most cases. It's pretty niche, and as far as /g/ is concerned, it's a meme they post when the "gamer" thing pops up.

>>61930765
There are. It's just very unpopular for desktop use.

>>61931873
>VAC
besides valve not making games anymore if it has VAC then it probably works on linux anyway

>>61932170
I never said everyone and his or her mother would be using PCIe passthrough on every device imaginable, I said it's not a meme.

>>61932205
But your gaming GPU is out of commission because of PCIE pass-through. So you're forced to play on your shitty iGPU with mediocre OpenGL feature support on fairly low settings (because the Linux ports aren't that good anyway).

>>61932221
It's niche tech, and considering how often it's bought up on /g/, it's pretty much a meme here.

>>61932179
Why though? If one does not need gpu passthrough, it seems pretty valid imo

>>61932240
Because the benefits, which are few, aren't enough to offset the overhead of a VM and the time it takes to set it up. Remember, most people use computers for things like browsing the web - they would get no advantage from this. Your average programmer probably has his dotfiles stored somewhere, so after the initial copy, he doesn't really need to do much else. It's simpler to do everything natively, and there's no chance of running into hypervisor bugs too...

>>61930765
There are. It's called QubesOS or basically anything that runs xen.

Also any type 1 hypervisor.

literally Xen

>>61930765
what are the advantages for someone who only needs one OS?
snapshots? several filesystems support this
quick recovery? restore a backup, or have a second os on a partition ready to go