Re: Roadmap?

[Farid Hajji]

Hi Bill,

[Cc: trimmed to l4-hurd]

> I'd like to offer to help, but I'm not really sure how I can.  Perhaps
> it's still too early for people like me to do anything?  I program in
> C, Java and a little C++ but probably at more of an applications level
> than what is needed.  The closest thing I've done to "kernel
> programming" is adding support to gphoto2 for my usb camera (i.e. a
> usermode driver - not very close to kernel programming at all ;-).

you don't need to be a kernel hacker to help :-)

> Still, if there's anything anyone thinks I might be able to do, keeping in
> mind that I have a day job, please let me know.

It depends on your personal preferences and tastes. After all, this
is a pure volunteer project; we're working on parts that we either
like very much or that we need for work. Personally, I'm currently
digging in UVM because I need this for a NetBSD/L4 port as well as
a distributed VM project @work. You'll certainly have similar
considerations too.

IMHO, the best way to get started with L4 hacking, is to actually
_write_ some root-tasks and exercise the L4 APIs. In your spare
time, consider writing a few root-tasks on top of, say, Hazelnut.
One app could consist of a root-task that spawns other tasks and
have them IPC directly. After this, try RPC with IDL4 etc... This
way, you could quickly learn a whole lot about L4 in general and
could then start doing "real work" ;).

But as said, it depends on your previous knowledge and personal
preferences. Please feel free to ask any questions to l4-hurd.
This is a very supportive group!

Good luck,

-Farid.

-- 
Farid Hajji -- Unix Systems and Network Admin | Phone: +49-2131-67-555
Broicherdorfstr. 83, D-41564 Kaarst, Germany  | address@hidden
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - -
One OS To Rule Them All And In The Darkness Bind Them... --Bill Gates.