Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 10:30:10 -0800 From: Jordan Hubbard <jkh@osd.bsdi.com> To: averycfay@yahoo.com Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Getting started (hacking that is) Message-ID: <20010310103010U.jkh@osd.bsdi.com> In-Reply-To: <060701c0a8e4$aee61ce0$0101a8c0@tiger> References: <060701c0a8e4$aee61ce0$0101a8c0@tiger>
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From: "Avery Fay" <averycfay@yahoo.com> Subject: Getting started (hacking that is) Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 17:02:49 -0500 > I am interested in contributing code to the FreeBSD project, specifically > the kernel but I am not opposed to helping out with user applications if > they are in dire need of improvements. To preface my request for assistance, > I should tell everyone that I am young (18) without extensive programming > experience although I have held two jobs programming in C and feel fairly > comfortable doing so. Although I've never worked on a kernel I am currently > reading "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD OS" and "Modern > Operating Systems: Design and Implementation" so hopefully I have a rough > understanding of the theory. It sounds like you're reading all the right stuff, anyway! Don't worry about your age or lack of experience - we all had to start somewhere. :) We all also weren't fortune enough to have complete source code for some of the OSes we wished to modify, so you're already starting well ahead of the curve. It's a good time to be learning about operating systems. > I have heard that writing or improving device drivers if one of the easier > methods to introduce oneself to kernel programming. Unfortunately (or > fortunately I guess), all of my hardware works with FreeBSD. I guess my I'm not sure writing a device driver is the best place to _start_, though it's certainly something which will acquaint you with many different parts of the OS. If you can actually get a driver written to the point where it probes and talks to a piece of hardware (if only on a rudimentary basis) then you've come pretty far. To begin with, however, you may wish to look through the PR database and find a relatively small problem to work on. That will truly get you into the areas of FreeBSD which need attention (thus making a valuable contribution) and allow you to learn along the way without taking on a big challenge which may prove intimidating. If you're really keen to do a device driver, and I certainly wouldn't want to discourage you if that's your bent, then you might consider working on something like a sound card or helping Cameron Grant with his generic mixing/effects audio framework. There are also a number of USB peripherals which need support, but that's jumping in at the deep end. Good luck! - Jordan To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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