Kernel Development BoF: So I've Learned C... Now What? - A Community Di...
Talkat Open Source Summit Japan + AI_dev: Open Source GenAI & ML Summit + Automotive Linux Summit 2025 · 2025-12-08..12-10·
summary
Practical entry paths: start by finding real bugs on odd hardware or LTS-to-mainline regressions, test with saved kernel configs and cmdlines, and write small fixes or drivers. Use tools like printk is your friend and KGDB/QEMU for debugging, run cross-architecture builds with ktest.pl to build every architecture, follow the standard workflow with B4 for git/send-email, and use make with UT=1 to warn about unused trace events. Ping maintainers weekly if silent, prefer active subsystems, and add tests or runtime-verifier checks.
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chapters (23)
- 0:00Kernel Development BoF intro
- 3:57Debugging kernel changes
- 6:05Choosing subsystems to contribute
- 8:55Avoiding wasted effort
- 9:58Starting with LTS kernels
- 11:21Patching maintainers effectively
- 14:10Kernel build tools
- 15:35Saving kernel configs
- 16:39Maintainer burnout support
- 19:11Code review vs bug finding
- 21:58Hardware-specific fixes
- 23:02Finding your kernel niche
- 27:16Beginner workflows
- 29:16Kernel development opacity
- 31:00Where to begin in kernel
- 32:07I/O subsystem drivers
- 33:35Writing kernel tests
- 35:18Runtime verifier exploration
- 36:12Old devices for learning
- 37:19Patches upstream process
- 38:43Scheduler testing and fixes
- 39:05Practical contribution advice
- 40:48Q&A
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