[ubuntu-cloud] Ubuntu cloud image '-root.tar.gz' content changes

[Scott Moser]

Hi all,

tldr;
  As we look forward to the 14.04 deliverable of cloud images, we're wanting
  to reduce legacy formats and streamline those that we have.

  If you're a consumer of the '-root.tar.gz' file then read on.
  The change suggested here will *only* affect the -root.tar.gz file.

We make several formats of images available on cloud-images.ubuntu.com.
The one relevant to this mail is the '-root.tar.gz'.  This is essentially
a 'tar -cSpzf - /' of the contents of /.

The changes we've just made to trusty are to remove the kernel and
bootloader packages before creating the tarfile.  Essentially doing a
'apt-get --purge remove "linux-*" "grub-*"' before packaging.

The reasoning for this is
a.) the images will then be more similar to the ubuntu core tar files at
    http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/12.04/release/
b.) the images are primarily used for lxc, where a kernel and bootloader
    are not necessary or used.
c.) there is a ~25M reduction in the size of the tarball, and a 100M+
    reduction in the size of the extracted root.

I'm interested in hearing feedback from anyone using these images that
would be [negatively] affected by the proposed change.


Scott