146 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
146 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
# UAPI Group Investigation
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## What Is the UAPI Group?
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The Linux Userspace API (UAPI) Group is a community for standardizing how Linux operating systems are built, deployed, run, and securely updated. It serves as a central gathering place for specifications, documentation, and ideas around image-based Linux.
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| Field | Detail |
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| Founded | October 2022, as outcome of the first Image-Based Linux Summit in Berlin |
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| Status | Self-described as "in the process of constituting itself" and "exploring the problem space" |
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| Website | uapi-group.org |
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| GitHub | github.com/uapi-group |
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| License | CC-BY-4.0 for all specifications |
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## The Critical Finding: Who Founded It
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The UAPI Group was founded by exactly three people:
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| Founder | Role at Founding | Current Affiliation | Role in birthDate Merge |
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| Lennart Poettering | systemd creator | Amutable (Chief Engineer) | Blocked the revert, locked discussion |
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| Luca Boccassi | systemd maintainer | Microsoft | Merged PR #40954 against 37:1 opposition |
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| Christian Brauner | Linux kernel VFS maintainer | Amutable (CTO) | No direct role in birthDate, but co-founder of Amutable |
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The same three individuals who set Linux userspace API standards also controlled the birthDate merge decision. Two of them then co-founded the startup that commercializes "verified integrity for Linux."
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There are no named officers, board, or elected leadership positions. Decisions flow through an informal maintainer model.
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## Governance Structure
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The UAPI Group is governed as a Free Software project, not as a formal standards body:
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- Anyone can submit comments and reviews
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- Every maintainer has the right to merge changes if they feel they hold the expertise
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- Non-trivial changes require approval from at least one maintainer (not the author)
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- Regular contributors may receive invitations to join the maintainer team
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- No conflict-of-interest policy
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- No formal membership requirements
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- No voting or consensus mechanisms
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The governance model mirrors systemd's own model, which means the same governance failures that enabled the birthDate merge also exist at the standards level.
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## Contributing Organizations
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The UAPI Group operates as an open community without formal membership. Contributing participants include:
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Companies: Microsoft, Amazon/AWS, Meta, Red Hat, Canonical, SUSE, Edgeless Systems, Pengutronix
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Distributions/Projects: Ubuntu Core, Debian, GNOME OS, Fedora CoreOS, Endless OS, Arch Linux, openSUSE, Flatcar, NixOS, carbonOS, postmarketOS, Freedesktop-sdk
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Tooling/Infrastructure: systemd, mkosi, image-builder/osbuild, tpm2-software, System Transparency, buildstream, BTRFS, bootc, composefs, (rpm-)ostree
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## Published Specifications
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| ID | Title | Description |
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| UAPI.1 | Boot Loader Specification | Distribution-independent boot loader menus |
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| UAPI.2 | Discoverable Partitions Specification | GUID UUIDs for auto-discovery of partition semantics |
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| UAPI.3 | Discoverable Disk Images | Self-describing system image format |
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| UAPI.4 | Extension Images | Extending base images with overlays |
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| UAPI.5 | Unified Kernel Images (UKI) | UEFI PE binaries containing kernel + initrd + cmdline |
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| UAPI.6 | Configuration Files Specification | Default locations for common config files |
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| UAPI.7 | Linux TPM PCR Registry | How TPM PCRs are used on Linux |
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| UAPI.8 | Package Metadata for Executable Files | Packaging metadata in ELF/PE binaries |
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| UAPI.9 | Linux File System Hierarchy | Directory layout (successor to systemd's file-hierarchy) |
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| UAPI.10 | Version Format Specification | Version string semantics |
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| UAPI.11 | File Hierarchy for Verification of OS Artifacts (VOA) | Verification of OS artifacts |
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None of the specifications directly address age verification, identity, or user metadata. The specs focus on boot, disk images, TPM, filesystems, and kernel images.
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The specifications do, however, create the infrastructure layer (trusted boot, measured boot, verified images, TPM integration) that Amutable is now commercializing.
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## Annual Summits
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| Year | Date | Location | Host |
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| 2022 | Oct 4-5 | Berlin | Founding summit |
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| 2023 | Sep 12 | Microsoft's Berlin office | Day before All Systems Go! |
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| 2024 | Sep 24 | Berlin | BoF-style sessions |
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### FOSDEM Devrooms
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- FOSDEM 2023: "Image-Based Linux and Secure Measured Boot"
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- FOSDEM 2025: "Image-Based Linux and Boot Integrity"
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## Is It a De Facto systemd Standards Body?
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The community actively debates this question.
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### Evidence of deep systemd alignment:
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- All three founders are systemd maintainers or closely affiliated
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- Several UAPI specs were originally systemd documentation "spun off" - UAPI.9 (Linux File System Hierarchy) moved from systemd's `file-hierarchy` man page
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- Many specs describe concepts first implemented in systemd
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- FOSDEM CFPs cross-posted to `systemd-devel` mailing list
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### The Criticism
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Neal Gompa (Fedora/AlmaLinux contributor) publicly stated:
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> "The UAPI Group isn't a neutral space: it's a systemd-driven project."
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### The Rebuttal
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Boccassi argued that not all specs are systemd-derived, pointing to UAPI.6 (Configuration Files Specification) driven by `libeconf`.
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### Assessment
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The UAPI Group functions as a de facto standards venue for the systemd/image-based Linux ecosystem. While nominally open, its founders, specification lineage, and technical direction are overwhelmingly aligned with systemd's vision.
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## Amutable's Relationship to the UAPI Group
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No formal "Amutable" organizational involvement exists - the UAPI Group predates Amutable (founded 2022 vs. Amutable announced January 2026). But the connection is total:
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- 2 of 3 UAPI Group founders are Amutable co-founders (Poettering, Brauner)
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- The third founder (Boccassi) remains at Microsoft and merged the birthDate PR
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- Multiple Amutable engineers (Zbigniew, Daan, Michael Vogt) are active in the UAPI/systemd ecosystem
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- Amutable's mission ("determinism and verifiable integrity") maps directly onto UAPI spec areas (TPM, UKI, Discoverable Partitions, Trusted Boot)
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- Amutable leadership stated they will remain "deeply involved in the systemd ecosystem"
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In effect, Amutable is a commercial venture built by the people who created the UAPI Group, working on commercially productizing the same technical concepts the UAPI Group standardizes.
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## The Structural Concern
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```
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UAPI Group (sets Linux userspace API standards)
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├── Founded by Poettering, Boccassi, Brauner
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│
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systemd (implements the standards as infrastructure)
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├── Maintained by Poettering, Boccassi, Zbigniew, Daan
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│
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Amutable (commercializes verified integrity built on the standards/infrastructure)
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├── Founded by Poettering, Brauner, Kühl
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├── Employs Zbigniew, Daan, and others
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│
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Result: Same small group sets standards → implements them → profits from them
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with no COI disclosure at any level
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```
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## Sources
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- [UAPI Group homepage](https://uapi-group.org/)
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- [UAPI Specifications](https://uapi-group.org/specifications/)
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- [LWN: 2022 Image-Based Linux Summit](https://lwn.net/Articles/912774/)
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- [LWN: 2023 Summit](https://lwn.net/Articles/946526/)
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- [LWN: 2024 Summit](https://lwn.net/Articles/994704/)
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- [Microsoft 2023 Summit blog](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/linuxandopensourceblog/the-2023-image-based-linux-summit/4000271)
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- [LWN: Finding a successor to the FHS](https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1032947/67e23ce1a3f9f129/)
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- [GitHub: uapi-group](https://github.com/uapi-group)
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