http://elinux.org/index.php?title=Mainline_the_watchdog_framework_for_the_Linux_kernel&feed=atom&action=history 2013-05-19T21:57:56Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.21alpha http://elinux.org/index.php?title=Mainline_the_watchdog_framework_for_the_Linux_kernel&diff=32653&oldid=prev 2011-01-25T17:31:09Z

<p>Created page with &quot;; Summary: Mainline the watchdog framework for the Linux kernel ; Proposer: Wolfram Sang == Description == The watchdog API of the Linux kernel is documented and has been in us...&quot;</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>; Summary: Mainline the watchdog framework for the Linux kernel<br /> <br /> ; Proposer: Wolfram Sang<br /> <br /> == Description ==<br /> The watchdog API of the Linux kernel is documented and has been in use for<br /> years. Yet, there is no abstraction for its common functionality (open, write,<br /> ioctl, close), so every watchdog driver has to implement those methods on its<br /> own. In addition to the vast amount of code duplication in the kernel source,<br /> this is also error-prone as there are subtle corner-cases in handling the<br /> watchdog and the userspace input correctly. Although there is code review for<br /> new drivers, it seems very desirable to improve the situation as a whole.<br /> <br /> There is a draft for a generic framework by the watchdog maintainer (see<br /> related work). Its development is quite slow, though. The current state already<br /> took years and was still not proposed for mainline inclusion. This proposal<br /> aims to improve the situation by<br /> <br /> 1) upstreaming the framework<br /> 2) converting some drivers to create a reference<br /> 3) adding a HOWTO for this conversion<br /> <br /> Although watchdogs are usually rather simple devices, they are crucial for the<br /> stability concept of an enormous number of devices. The benefit of this<br /> proposal is to have a rock-solid, well maintainable and trustworthy watchdog<br /> framework, which can improve the existing implementations and makes writing new<br /> drivers faster and less error-prone.<br /> <br /> == Related work ==<br /> * Current state by Wim van Sebroeck (watchdog maintainer):<br /> ** http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/wim/linux-2.6-watchdog-next.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/generic-watchdog<br /> <br /> == Scope ==<br /> My estimate would be 2-3 weeks of development, review and testing.<br /> <br /> == Contractor Candidates ==<br /> Wim van Sebroeck as the watchdog maintainer would be the first candidate for<br /> 1). I'd like to nominate myself to do 2) and 3) with a focus on embedded<br /> platforms. I would also assist 1) by either doing a thorough peer-review of the code<br /> or by taking care of the mainline process in case Wim does not have time for it<br /> (keeping his credits, of course).<br /> <br /> == Comments ==<br /> <br /> [[Category:Project proposals 2011]]</div>

Tim Bird