CE Workgroup Device Mainlining Project

This page describes the "Device Mainlining" project of the CE Workgroup.

This purpose of this project is to decrease the amount of out-of-mainline patches for the Linux kernel, in modern consumer electronics products.

This project was proposed at the CE Workgroup Steering Committee meeting in Tokyo, Japan, in June of 2014.

Activities
In terms of overall strategy, the actions being performed for this project fall into 4 categories:
 * communicate and meet to make plans and carry forth objectives
 * identify problems
 * implement solutions
 * train and educate participants

communicate and meet to make plans and carry forth objectives

 * Tim Bird held a Birds-of-a-Feather meeting to discuss issues with this during Linux Plumbers in Dusseldorf, Germany, on October 16, 2014
 * Kevin Hillman attended, and provided some good insights into SOC mainline efforts in the past
 * Hold another meeting at ELC, to identify areas that need work (and could use CEWG/LF funding)

Identify problems

 * Survey
 * conduct a survey to identify obstacles to mainlining - Done, September 2014
 * present "Overcoming Obstacles to Mainlining" talk at ELCE 2014
 * Identify most-out-of-mainline areas
 * analyse source tree from multiple vendors (covering multiple SOCs) for actual products, to see what the delta is in different areas

Implement solutions

 * decide on specific projects
 * hire contractors (or do work ourselves)
 * push patches to mainline to address problem areas found

Train and Educate participants

 * convince management to provide funding and/or resources for this work
 * produce a white paper on obstacles
 * determine cost of not having code in mainline, and publish information for managers