New contributor interested in helping with kernel 4.19 → 6.1 upgrade (Rust support)

[Muresan73]

Hi ev3dev people! 👋

I've been playing around with ev3dev and noticed we're running on kernel 4.19. I'm interested in helping upgrade to 6.1, mainly because it would enable Rust kernel module bindings (which could open up some cool possibilities for the project i think).

About me & my situation:

• New to kernel development but eager to learn.
• My employer lets me spend 50% of my time on open source at the moment.
• Picked ev3dev because I love what you're doing here + would like to dip my toe with lower level linux staff.

What I need help with:

• Understanding what regression testing we'd need to ensure basic functionality
• Guidance on where to start with this upgrade process

I realize this is ambitious for a first-time kernel contributor. If there are better ways I could help out first or if this should be broken into smaller pieces, I'm open to suggestions. Just looking to contribute meaningfully while learning along the way.

Looking forward to your guidance!

[dlech]

A while ago, I started updating things for the 6.9 kernel. I didn't get very far though. There were some major changes in the rpmsg/remoteproc subsystems, so patches related to the PRU will need to be redone. Not exactly an easy task for someone new to the kernel, but I'm happy to answer any questions about it.

New branches missing or disabled rproc stuff:

• https://github.com/ev3dev/ev3-kernel/commits/ev3dev-bookworm/
• https://github.com/ev3dev/lego-linux-drivers/tree/ev3dev-bookworm

Any patch from this branch that starts with remoteproc: or rpmsg: on top of v4.19 needs to be ported to the branch above.