On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 11:18 AM Bird, Tim <Tim.Bird@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Hey Linux developers, > > The response to my request to form a Special Interest Group for boot-time reduction > for Linux has been really great. Many people contacted me by e-mail and on LinkedIn. Hi Tim, Thanks for organizing this and moving it forward! I'd be interested in contributing to this effort as a lot of work I have done aligns with the goals of this effort and boot time is of obvious value to Android. > I had hoped to push out a script today to start to gather data on boot-time on different > platforms, for people to run who had expressed interest in helping with this effort. But > I got overwhelmed with other tasks, and I may not get it done today. I'll be in Tokyo next > week for Open Source Summit Japan. If you are there, please try to catch me and say hi. > Given that, I'll see how soon I can provide the script I'm talking about, and we can > discuss the goals and design of the script. > > A couple of quick things: > There are lots of things to discuss, but here are a few things to get started with... > > = wiki account = > The wiki where we'll be maintaining information about > boot time, and about activities of the boot time SIG, is the elinux wiki. > The page we'll be focusing on is: https://elinux.org/Boot_Time. > If you are interested in helping update and maintain the information there > (which I hope almost everyone is), then please make sure you have a user > account on the wiki. > If you don't have one, please go here: > https://elinux.org/Special:RequestAccount > I have to manually approve accounts in order to fight spambots. It might > take a few days for me to get to your request. It's very helpful if you > put a comment in one of the request fields about this being related to > the boot-time initiative or SIG, so I can distinguish your request from > spam requests. Can we instead keep this all a part of the kernel docs instead of the wiki? Couple of reasons for that: - Since the instructions can be kernel version specific (as things change), it makes sense to have the document synced with the kernel. - It's one less account to maintain and less chores for you. - One less business approval to get in terms of contributing to external sources. - Less chance of bit rot. As people make changes, the docs are right there to go fix. Thanks, Saravana > = support for new developers = > A number of developers have asked me if they can participate and contribute, > even if they are not seasoned Linux kernel developers. The answer is "Yes"! > I hope to provide a range of activities for people to provide data, help update > the wiki, implement and run tests and perform research - even if they don't have > any previous Linux development experience. I hope it will be fun to participate, > and very educational. > > If you are new to Linux and have just joined this group, please review some > of the material on the Boot_Time page mentioned above. We will be covering > more than just the kernel in the project, but one place to get started will be > to look at the kernel source file init/main.c, particularly the function start_kernel() > (which is where a lot of the "magic" happens at kernel startup time.) > Don't be afraid to ask questions. Please ask them on this list so that others benefit > from any answers provided. > > = short-term plans = > I am building out the "membership" of the SIG over the very short term. I have > some more individuals and companies to contact to see who wants to be involved. > > Other things I'd like to do are: > * start gathering boot timing data for different systems (using the script I described above) > * start pruning obsolete information and refactoring the boot-time material on the elinux wiki > * (Yes - some of the material there is quite dated, so be sure to check it out before you try to > use some tool or technique - if something doesn't work, please send an e-mail or mark it in the wiki) > * discuss planning for SIG video conference calls and meetings > * I know I'm interested in having a boot-time micro-conference at Embedded Linux > Conference next year - but we need to discuss if we want regular calls or other face-to-face > meetings > * perform a survey of existing boot-time reduction techniques, and see where they are > in the pipeline of upstreaming or deployment in actual products > * finally (for this list), brainstorm what activities the SIG should do, and how we can > collaborate on those. I've started a list at: https://elinux.org/Boot_Time_Project_Ideas > that you can look at and comment on (either on this list, or on the wiki). > > I'll be busy with business travel and Sony work next week, but I hope I still > find some time to follow up on this . I look forward to working with many of you > reading this, on improving this area of Linux. > -- Tim > >
