Running minikube on IBM (s390x, ppc64le), use cases

[afbjorklund]

There's been some requests for minikube binaries for kubernetes IBM Z/POWER platforms:

• Linux on IBM Z (s390x)

• Linux on POWER (ppc64le)

It would be nice with some more background information, how minikube is used there...

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So far the main use case is running the none driver in CI, for installing kubeadm.

There is not really any development desktop support, and no available ISO or KIC.

[runlevel5]

I am running a RaptorCS Blackbird workstation (which runs Linux ppc64le) mainly for web app development. I would love to be able to get minikube running on this platform so I could experiment with k8s locally.

I am not aware of any usecase of using minikube on mainframe (s390x) at this stage.

[afbjorklund]

OK, thanks! That sounds somewhat similar to the arm64 and the Raspberry Pi 4 scenarios.
Wasn't aware that people were still running PowerPC for their desktop, after the Mac stopped.

[runlevel5]

@afbjorklund IBM has been pushing the OpenPOWER platform and I could see a small community of mainly engineers are embracing it. Companies like Raptor CS have offered affordable OpenPOWER-based products that help bridge the adoption gap. And I hope with the level of software support, the gap would be shortened further.

[edmondsw]

ppc64le has actually never been used in a mainframe. It's primarily used on-prem in enterprise customer datacenters, but it is making its way into laptops and things via OpenPOWER as @runlevel5 mentioned. You can also now get ppc64le virtual machines in the IBM Cloud: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-about-advanced-virtual-servers#about-power-vsi

[afbjorklund]

My bad, when I ran PowerPC it was called G3/G4/G5 :-) It was on the Mac. Maybe we should decouple ppc64le from s390x then.