
Linux Kernel Testing: Intro to kernelci.org - walterbell
http://baylibre.com/intro-kernelci/
======
unwind
I was amazed to learn that the Linux kernel supports 1,400 distinct 32-bit ARM
targets!

That's ... a scary amount, and it's easy to see that automated testing might
be a good thing, there.

I think the combinatorial explosion happens at least in part because even
though there's a limited number of actual ARM cores, the peripherals which
Linux needs to support are often vendor-defined and thus different for each
system-on-a-chip (or at least different for each device series from a
particular manufacturer). I didn't dig through the sources to verify this, but
I've heard of the problem before, ARM doesn't define a standard way for the
CPU core to learn about its peripherals at run-time.

~~~
simias
Keep in mind that's mainly because the ARM world is not standardized the way
the PC world is. In practice the differences between most of these targets
will be the very early initialization code and things like the clock hierarchy
but beyond that most of the code will be shared across many variants.

Imagine having to use a different kernel every time you upgrade your desktop,
that's basically how the ARM world works so far.

------
gsnedders
Personally, I find it amazing that a project the size of Linux has relatively
few automated tests and testing done by its maintainers, leading to projects
such as this (and the LTP, etc.) to come about to actually ensure ongoing
quality.

How many other major projects the size of Linux have as little upstream
testing?

~~~
broodbucket
There's a lot of upstream testing, even if not public.

You can bet pretty much every hardware vendor is running some kind of kernel
CI internally.

~~~
Thrillington
Maybe PC hardware vendors has some automated kernel testing. I think it's
different with embedded. The SoC company I worked for a couple of years ago
didn't have anything like that.

~~~
wtallis
That's because SoC companies for the most part simply never update the kernel.
Whatever kernel they were using when the chip tapes out is the kernel they're
still using when the products hit EOL. Wireless routers with Broadcom 802.11ac
are all running a kernel branch from 2010.

------
XorNot
This project could use a downloadable script which would automatically compare
"some machine you have which runs linux" to hardware configurations currently
available within the CI platform to see if it would be a useful contribution.

~~~
rbanffy
That could be really interesting. Grabbing system configuration from lshw
should be relatively simple - what could be more interesting is the backend
that would tell you your machine is an interesting one or is already covered.

------
rsendv
Just want to express my appreciation for projects like this and I hope
everyone involved receive the recognition they deserve.

------
Clownshoesms
Whack in a build/regression test for the NVidia driver against the latest
kernel sources. I spent so long today trying to get those compiled on Debian
against the latest sources, and I feel dumber as a result. Which is probably
fair enough, also had a few beers.

------
devrandomguy
It is all as it was foretold. The mighty Beowulf cluster reawakens, summoned
by its true calling. Servants of the Dark File, bring forth your abandoned and
dying devices, that they may be blessed with an IP in this new Mecca of logic
and crystal.

~~~
itburnslikeice
.........

~~~
devrandomguy
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_cluster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_cluster)

Wow, looks like the definition got cleaned up a bit over the decades. Back
when I was a kid, it was just every computing device the group could get their
hands on, networked. Running simple delayed-echo servers, in our case.

