My Linux Kernel activities in May-July 2017

The following is a list of the top ten Linux kernel developers over the last four months. I’ve managed to make it to the top three thanks to my recent contributions 🙂 :
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git/stats

The following file contains detailed information regarding the categories and types of bugs I’ve resolved, as well as the software components in which they were detected:
https://github.com/GustavoARSilva/linux-hardening/blob/master/cii/2017/reports/mayjunjul_detailed

As a result, I’ve managed to contribute to the following subsystems and architectures during this time:

•  alsa-devel
•  ath10k
•  dri-devel
•  intel-gfx
•  linux-arm-kernel
•  linux-arm-msm
•  linux-clk
•  linux-crypto
•  linux-fbdev
•  linux-fpga
•  linux-input
•  linux-media
•  linux-mediatek
•  linux-mmc
•  linux-omap
•  linux-parisc
•  linux-pm
•  linux-rdma
•  linux-renesas-soc
•  linux-rockchip
•  linux-scsi
•  linux-wireless
•  linux-wpan
•  platform-driver-x86
•  target-devel
•  tpmdd-devel

Below are more links to my contributions upstream during this time:

https://github.com/GustavoARSilva/linux-hardening/blob/master/cii/2017/reports/mayjunjul_commits.log
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git/log/?qt=author&q=Gustavo+A.+R.+Silva

Also, during the last week I’ve been working with Julia Lawall on a Coccinelle script that is awaiting upstream at the moment. This script is going to help kernel developers to reduce the code size and increase maintainability, in cases where the lifetime of some variables don’t need to be extended beyond their scope. See the example below:

In the code above, the static on local variable var is unnecessary because such variable is always initialized before it can be used. So there is no need to extend the lifetime of the variable beyond its scope, which in this case is the foo() function.

I’ve managed to identify and fix more than 10 of such cases during the last month and, currently there exist around 60 more in the last linux-next tree.

Similar cases are expected to emerge in the Linux kernel in the future, as they can be easily introduced during code refactoring or maintenance.

The Coccinelle script I’ve been working on is intended to detect and fix those cases. Follow the link for more details: https://lkml.org/lkml/2017/8/1/34

Special thanks to The Linux Foundation‘s Core Infrastructure Initiative for supporting my work. 🙂

—

Gustavo A. R. Silva