Roadmap 2012

[Norman Feske]

Hello,

> Therefore, I propose to put device drivers for USB (HID, MSC), GPU,
> and optionally audio on the agenda. The development should be guided
> by the i915 implementation and, thus, obsoletes the current
> linux_drivers. It may sound ambitious, but IMO the drivers should be
> ready for Genode 12.05. What is your opinion?

I support this course of action and think that realizing the overhaul in
version 12.05 is achievable.

In the meantime, we should split 'linux_drivers' from the normal Genode
repository to keep Genode's Git repository tiny and neat. In the SVN and
release archives, 'linux_drivers' should be included but on Github, we
better put them into separate Git repo. Once we go for a 'make prepare'
mechanism in 'linux_drivers' (in the line of how we handle all other
contrib code now) we can incorporate the new version into the mainline
Genode repository.

I also think that taking the porting work of the GPU driver as blue
print for the USB stack and audio drivers is the way to go. For the GPU
driver, the emulation environment is about 2 KLOC only. Contrasting this
value with the more than 300 KLOC of code currently present in the DDE
Linux driver environment is a pretty convincing argument. .-)

The only question I have is about the MadWifi driver. Will be abandon it
in favor of more current Wifi drivers as found in recent Linux kernels?
If yes, I'd propose to schedule this work for the second half of 2012.

Cheers
Norman