plano

   1 intro
   2         linux
   3                 version history/evolution/compatibility DO A LITTLE
   4                 constant change, book is already outdated
   5                 current versioning/development model
   6                 modules
   7                 build dependencies
   8                 running new/bleeding-edge kernels
   9
  10 concepts
  11         kernel/user space
  12                 rings/levels/modes
  13                 memory protection/segmentation/pagination
  14                 library calls
  15                 allowed uses (floating point forbidden)
  16                 concurrency
  17                 small stack
  18         libc/system calls
  19         operating system functions
  20                 process management
  21                         concurrency
  22                         communication/IPC, scheduling
  23                 memory management
  24                         address space
  25                         virtual memory
  26                 filesystems
  27                 networking
  28                 device, I/O
  29         robustness/security
  30                 error checking
  31                 kernel space code
  32                 programming errors and bugs
  33                 restrict some operations to privileged users
  34                 do not send unzeored data (information leak)
  35                 do not trust received data (malformed data) (exploit)
  36                 risks for the machine/system/data
  37
  38 basics
  39         Makefile
  40         Kconfig DO?
  41         building linux DO?
  42         build
  43         init/exit
  44         module macros
  45         module parameters
  46         config/build time options/parameters
  47         sysfs interface for modules DO?
  48         printk
  49         module loading/unloading/handling
  50
  51 VFS
  52         center/hub/interface
  53         char/block/procfs/sysfs: all go through VFS to device
  54         fops is the main structure in linux
  55         FS on top of block devices
  56                 block layer
  57                 exception: some on top of MTD devices
  58
  59 device driver subsystem
  60         buses
  61         device classes
  62         interfaces
  63                 dev file
  64                 sysfs
  65                 procfs
  66                 sysctl DO?
  67                 netlink DO?
  68
  69 char device
  70         MAJOR/MINOR/MKDEV
  71
  72 procfs
  73 sysfs
  74 block device DO? STUDY
  75 network device DO? STUDY
  76 terminal/serial device DO? STUDY
  77
  78 debugging techniques
  79         printk/procfs
  80         debugfs DO? STUDY
  81         kgdb DO?
  82         trace DO?
  83         kprobe DO?
  84
  85 C basics
  86         container_of (struct embedding)
  87         fops/*ops (function pointers)
  88         IS_ERR (pointers and error values)
  89
  90 data structures
  91         list_head
  92         bitmap
  93         trees DO? STUDY rbtree
  94         idr DO?
  95         any hash implementation DO? STUDY
  96
  97 contexts
  98         user context (current, copy_from_user, schedule) STUDY schedule
  99         interrupt context
 100         workqueue is user context
 101         sleep == schedule
 102
 103 concurrency
 104         SMP systems
 105         locking
 106         spinlock: disable scheduler
 107         semaphore/mutex sleeps
 108         per-cpu variables STUDY
 109         atomic
 110         RCU DO?
 111
 112 memory allocation
 113         kobject refcount MENTION
 114         slab STUDY
 115                 multiple implementations
 116                 space efficient (tables for different object sizes)
 117                 concurrency efficient (per-cpu tables)
 118         kmalloc
 119                 uses slab STUDY
 120         vmalloc
 121                 linux memory layout
 122
 123 scheduling/timing
 124         schedule{,_timeout}
 125         timer
 126         workqueue
 127         completion/wait_head
 128         tasklets DO? STUDY
 129
 130 portability
 131         readl/writel/etc
 132         be16_to_cpu/etc
 133
 134 interrupt
 135         {request,free}_irq
 136         interrupt context
 137         tasklet/workqueue/postpone
 138
 139 buses
 140         PCI bus DO?
 141         USB bus DO?
 142         some bus: SPI, I2C, parport DO?
 143
 144 device classes
 145         some class: cdrom, backlight, input, misc DO?
 146
 147 kobject DO? advanced
 148         refcounting
 149
 150 STUDY:
 151         module owner, concurrency, reference counting