Diff for "KernelProjects" - Linux Kernel Newbies

Differences between revisions 4 and 30 (spanning 26 versions)

There are many ways for people to start out in Linux kernel development. One good place to start is the [http://www.kerneljanitors.org/ Kernel Janitors] project, where you can become familiar with the Linux kernel source tree and development style by making small cleanups and bug fixes all over the tree, together with the other kernel janitors.

For Kernel Hackers

Please add suitable projects here to help Computer Science students do something useful in the time they need to spend on projects anyway. Suitable projects:

Are relatively self contained, so the code could be merged into the kernel after the student is done with the project.
Have clearly defined functionality, so the student has goals and can determine whether (s)he achieved them.
Can be of various sizes. Students need projects anywhere from 6 weeks part-time to 6 months full-time effort.
If possible, are useful to the Linux kernel. Maybe something from your own TODO list that you did not get around to?

Small Linux features

A good next step is to implement small, relatively self contained, features that the Linux kernel needs but have not been implemented yet. When you "take" such a feature, please add your name in the "Developer" column and the date you decided to take the project in the "Date taken" column.

Project	Summary	Contact	Difficulty (1-10)	Developer	Date taken	Merged in

[:KernelProjects/rlimit64:setrlimit64/getrlimit64]	64 bit versions of set/getrlimit, see [http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5042 bug 5042]	Andrew Morton - akpm (at) linux-foundation.org	6
/PowerSaving	power saving tweaks	[http://linuxpowertop.org/discuss.php Powertop mailing list]	3	various
/SwapoutClustering	swap out virtually contiguous pages together	Rik van Riel - riel (at) redhat.com	5	Peter Teoh (htmldeveloper (at) gmail.com)
/Mac80211Suspend	mac80211 suspend/resume support	Johannes Berg - johannes (at) sipsolutions.net	5
[:KernelProjects/pfiles:/pfiles]	add reporting of socket information to [http://sources.redhat.com/systemtap/wiki/WSPfiles pfiles] SystemTap script	Eugene Teo - eteo (at) redhat.com	3

Larger projects

Alternatively, there are some larger projects. Again, when you "take" such a project, please add your name in the "Developer" column and the date you decided to take the project in the "Date taken" column.

Project	Summary	Contact	Difficulty (1-10)	Developer	Date taken	Merged in
/Mac80211TestDriver	test mac80211 without real hardware	Johannes Berg - johannes (at) sipsolutions.net	depends

Projects that could use more help

Another possibility is to get involved with an existing kernel project that needs some help. Since these projects need multiple people, there is no need to claim these.

Project	Summary

[http://linuxcompressed.sourceforge.net/ Compressed Caching]	Compressed Caching is a new level in the virtual memory hierarchy, where pages are stored in some compressed format, decreasing the number of page faults that are serviced by slow hard disks.
[http://www.linux1394.org/ FireWire subsystem]	The Linux1394 project has a seemingly ever-growing [http://wiki.linux1394.org/ToDo list of bugs and other to-do items], ranging from small cleanups to implementation of full drivers (e.g. IP over FireWire). If you have FireWire hardware, working on these drivers may be a good entry into kernel hacking because most [http://wiki.linux1394.org/Links/Specifications FireWire specs] are open, some even gratis.

CategoryKernelHacking CategoryKernelProjects

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-Want to do a project on the kernel ?
+There are many ways for people to start out in Linux kernel development.  One good place to start is the [http://www.kerneljanitors.org/ Kernel Janitors] project, where you can become familiar with the Linux kernel source tree and development style by making small cleanups and bug fixes all over the tree, together with the other kernel janitors.
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-Need to do a university project on the kernel ?
+== For Kernel Hackers ==
Please add suitable projects here to help Computer Science students do something useful in the time they need to spend on projects anyway.  Suitable projects:
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-Have a project which can use some help ?
+ * Are relatively self contained, so the code could be merged into the kernel after the student is done with the project.
 * Have clearly defined functionality, so the student has goals and can determine whether (s)he achieved them.
 * Can be of various sizes.  Students need projects anywhere from 6 weeks part-time to 6 months full-time effort.
 * If possible, are useful to the Linux kernel.  Maybe something from your own TODO list that you did not get around to?
== Small Linux features ==
A good next step is to implement small, relatively self contained, features that the Linux kernel needs but have not been implemented yet.  When you "take" such a feature, please add your name in the "Developer" column and the date you decided to take the project in the "Date taken" column.
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-Put your kernel project stuff here and help each other...
+|| Project || Summary || Contact || Difficulty (1-10) || Developer || Date taken || Merged in ||
||||||||||||||<style="text-align: center;"> ||
|| [:KernelProjects/rlimit64:setrlimit64/getrlimit64] || 64 bit versions of set/getrlimit, see [http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5042 bug 5042] || Andrew Morton - akpm (at) linux-foundation.org || 6 || || || ||
|| /PowerSaving || power saving tweaks || [http://linuxpowertop.org/discuss.php Powertop mailing list] || 3 || various || || ||
||/SwapoutClustering||swap out virtually contiguous pages together ||Rik van Riel - riel (at) redhat.com ||5||Peter Teoh (htmldeveloper (at)  gmail.com)|| || ||
||/Mac80211Suspend|| mac80211 suspend/resume support||Johannes Berg - johannes (at) sipsolutions.net||5|| || || ||
|| [:KernelProjects/pfiles:/pfiles] || add reporting of socket information to [http://sources.redhat.com/systemtap/wiki/WSPfiles pfiles] !SystemTap script ||Eugene Teo - eteo (at) redhat.com ||3|| || || ||
== Larger projects ==
Alternatively, there are some larger projects. Again, when you "take" such a project, please add your name in the "Developer" column and the date you decided to take the project in the "Date taken" column.
-Line 9:
+Line 23:
-Also see KernelFuture for more ideas on what might happen in the future.
+|| Project || Summary || Contact || Difficulty (1-10) || Developer || Date taken || Merged in ||
|| /Mac80211TestDriver || test mac80211 without real hardware || Johannes Berg - johannes (at) sipsolutions.net || depends || || || ||
== Projects that could use more help ==
Another possibility is to get involved with an existing kernel project that needs some help.  Since these projects need multiple people, there is no need to claim these.

|| Project || Summary ||
||||<style="text-align: center;"> ||
|| [http://linuxcompressed.sourceforge.net/ Compressed Caching] || Compressed Caching is a new level in the virtual memory hierarchy, where pages are stored in some compressed format, decreasing the number of page faults that are serviced by slow hard disks. ||
|| [http://www.linux1394.org/ FireWire subsystem] || The Linux1394 project has a seemingly ever-growing [http://wiki.linux1394.org/ToDo list of bugs and other to-do items], ranging from small cleanups to implementation of full drivers (e.g. IP over !FireWire).  If you have !FireWire hardware, working on these drivers may be a good entry into kernel hacking because most [http://wiki.linux1394.org/Links/Specifications FireWire specs] are open, some even gratis. ||
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-[Anonymous Coward] Can someone do an audiocdfs, with all traks being accessible via .au files?
[davej] This has been done at least once. Google for 'audiofs'.

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The [http://www.kerneljanitors.org/ Kernel Janitors] project is a great place to start out, with easy tasks that help you get familiar with the kernel sources.

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"Compressed Caching" is a new level in the virtual memory hierarchy, where pages are stored in some compressed format, decreasing the number of page faults that are serviced by slow hard disks. We aim to implement this idea in the Linux Kernel. It is mainly developed by Rodrigo S. de Castro.

http://linuxcompressed.sourceforge.net/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxcompressed

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Suggestion for a project: Per process I/O statistics in /proc/$pid/.

It could be useful to collect statistics on I/O performed by a process, for example the number of bytes in/out read() and write(). The stats can be displayed in top, which also should be able to sort on this column.

There are some problems: 
  * not everything through read()/write() is 'real' I/O. Maybe collect stats on certain subsystems (filesystems) only.
  * the pagecache gets in the way

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http://www.Freshsource.org/  allows registering your interest in portions of a source tree. Initially supporting FreeBSD source, then other projects later.
+ . CategoryKernelHacking CategoryKernelProjects