plano

   1 intro
   2         linux
   3                 version history/evolution DO?
   4                 modules
   5                 constant change, book is already outdated
   6                 current versioning/development model
   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
  50 VFS
  51         center/hub/interface
  52         char/block/procfs/sysfs: all go through VFS to device
  53         fops is the main structure in linux
  54         FS on top of block devices
  55                 block layer
  56                 exception: some on top of MTD devices
  57
  58 device driver subsystem
  59         buses
  60         device classes
  61         interfaces
  62                 dev file
  63                 sysfs
  64                 procfs
  65                 sysctl DO?
  66                 netlink DO?
  67
  68 char device
  69 procfs
  70 sysfs
  71 block device DO? STUDY
  72 network device DO? STUDY
  73 terminal/serial device DO? STUDY
  74
  75 debugging techniques
  76         printk/procfs
  77         debugfs DO? STUDY
  78         kgdb DO?
  79         trace DO?
  80         kprobe DO?
  81
  82 C basics
  83         container_of (struct embedding)
  84         fops/*ops (function pointers)
  85         IS_ERR (pointers and error values)
  86
  87 data structures
  88         list_head
  89         bitmap
  90         trees DO? STUDY rbtree
  91         idr DO?
  92         any hash implementation DO? STUDY
  93
  94 contexts
  95         user context (current, copy_from_user, schedule) STUDY schedule
  96         interrupt context
  97         workqueue is user context
  98         sleep == schedule
  99
 100 concurrency
 101         SMP systems
 102         locking
 103         spinlock: disable scheduler
 104         semaphore/mutex sleeps
 105         per-cpu variables STUDY
 106         atomic
 107         RCU DO?
 108
 109 memory allocation
 110         kobject refcount MENTION
 111         slab STUDY
 112                 multiple implementations
 113                 space efficient (tables for different object sizes)
 114                 concurrency efficient (per-cpu tables)
 115         kmalloc
 116                 uses slab STUDY
 117         vmalloc
 118                 linux memory layout
 119
 120 scheduling/timing
 121         schedule{,_timeout}
 122         timer
 123         workqueue
 124         completion/wait_head
 125         tasklets DO? STUDY
 126
 127 portability
 128         readl/writel/etc
 129         be16_to_cpu/etc
 130
 131 interrupt
 132         {request,free}_irq
 133         interrupt context
 134         tasklet/workqueue/postpone
 135
 136 buses
 137         PCI bus DO?
 138         USB bus DO?
 139         some bus: SPI, I2C, parport DO?
 140
 141 device classes
 142         some class: cdrom, backlight, input, misc DO?
 143
 144 kobject DO? advanced
 145         refcounting
 146
 147 STUDY:
 148         module owner, concurrency, reference counting