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.
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 |
[:/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 |
|
|
|
power saving tweaks |
[http://linuxpowertop.org/discuss.php Powertop mailing list] |
3 |
various |
|
|
|
swap out virtually contiguous pages together |
Rik van Riel - riel (at) redhat.com |
5 |
|
|
|
|
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. |