The 2004 Kernel Summit

Monday

Monday's sessions include:

• The processor panel. Engineers from Intel, AMD, and IBM discussed where their architectures are going and the implications for the Linux kernel.

• Virtual memory, with special attention to the topics of NUMA support, hotpluggable memory, and page clustering.

• Software suspend; what will it take before we can reliably suspend and restore our systems?

• Kobjects and sysfs, and what needs to be done to get the developers to complain about them less in 2.7.

• Video drivers, featuring a cameo appearance by Keith Packard.

• Desktop performance. Robert Love led a discussion on how the Linux kernel can better support desktop applications.

• Short topics, being an opportunity for developers to present an interesting issue in five minutes.

Tuesday

• The customer panel was a discussion led by technical managers from Goldman Sachs and Amazon.com; they talked about the problems they have with Linux and how the kernel could better support their needs.

• Clustered storage and just what capabilities need to go into the kernel to support this feature.

• Kexec and fast booting; what is required to make the Linux kernel boot in a reasonable period of time?

• RAS tools, with an emphasis on simple tools to help track down kernel reliability problems.

• Networking summit summary. One week prior to the kernel summit, a small group got together in Oregon for a two-day networking summit. Stephen Hemminger summarized the results for the kernel group.

• Asynchronous I/O; a session on what is required to make AIO work properly under Linux, and whether it is worth doing.

• Multipath I/O and device mapper issues.

• Virtualization, running virtual machines under (and on top of) Linux.

• Security. Linux has acquired a great many security features over the last few years; what other work is required in that area?

• Class-based Kernel Resource Management.

• OSDL relations. How does the Open Source Development Labs relate with the development community, and how can that relationship be improved?

• The final session was about the development process; have a look to see what was said about when the 2.7 development series will begin - the answer is not quite what one would expect.