[META] Bootstrap the LoongArch container-computing ecosystem

[xen0n]

[!NOTE]

根据 https://github.com/docker-library/official-images/issues/16404#issuecomment-2173733639 ，有“合规要求” :eyes: 近期应该是不能给官方镜像加入 linux/loong64 支持了。不要指望用纯技术的方式解决此问题，但有政治雄心的贡献者倒是可以试试非技术的手段。 :eyes:

闲话不多说，目前我们主要聚焦于提供“影子”或曰“平行宇宙”的官方容器镜像，以放在另一个账号（例如这个，类似 RISC-V 的相似用途账号）或者另一个容器镜像托管服务上的方式进行。

According to https://github.com/docker-library/official-images/issues/16404#issuecomment-2173733639, there are "compliance requirements" :eyes: that likely precludes inclusion of linux/loong64 variants in the official images in the short term. This is unlikely to get solved in a purely technical manner, but anyone with the political ambitions can always try. :eyes:

In the meantime though, we focus our work on providing "shadow"/"parallel-universe" "official" container images under a different account (e.g. this, akin to the RISC-V one) / container registry.

• [ ] Infra
  • [ ] https://github.com/estesp/manifest-tool/pull/274
  • [ ] https://github.com/docker-library/bashbrew/pull/108
• [ ] Alpine
  • [ ] official (alpine): blocked due to non-technical reasons, https://github.com/docker-library/official-images/pull/17607
  • [ ] unofficial: TBD
• [ ] Debian
  • [ ] official (debian): likely also blocked, https://github.com/debuerreotype/docker-debian-artifacts/issues/220
  • [ ] unofficial: TBD
• more to come

[fossdd]

btw: alpine does try to find another location to distribute the container images, so stay tuned.

[darkyzhou]

I have strong demand for a stable Debian image for my project. I understand the compliance issues with official images, and I'm willing to help build the unofficial version.

[xen0n]

Some more information so far:

• The loong64 organization is supposedly transferred to Loongson by its original owner. Some container images are being produced with automation right now, but the build system there may need some more scrutiny before one (actually, personally I) could trust.
• The loong64 Docker Hub account was registered by an unknown individual (maybe an Loongson employee but they haven't been able to pinpoint so far) and thus not usable.
• So far Loongson's cloud computing group has been uploading manually crafted images under the Docker Hub account loongarch64. The account name may be misleading because in the cloud ecosystem people are used to GOARCH-like architecture names where loongarch64 is the old-world name for LoongArch64.

I've contacted the Loongson team and pointed them here, but so far they haven't (or couldn't) comment.