GSoC-2014-ideas
D1392795567
Afst
#Plan 9 and related technologies cover a huge range of topics. Below
#we've put together a list of some ideas which we think would be good
#candidates for stundents looking for summer-sized projects with us.
#Each idea includes at least a brief description and a list of
#"sponsors" for the idea (people who've suggested it or volunteered
#to work with folks on it). Ideas are rated for estimated difficulty
#from 1 to 5 stars (1=easy, 5=hard) and may contain links to further
#information or discussion.
#
#Note! We actively encourage students to submit applications for
#projects not on this list, too. We've accepted such projects most of
#the years we've participated. Plan 9 (and its cousins) embody a
#different way of approaching problems, and we get most excited when
#we see a student (or anyone, for that matter) apply those ideas to
#their own set of problems.
#
#In addition to this ideas page, prospective students should look
#over our [GSoC Student Expectations] and be prepared to submit an
#application matching our [GSoC Student Application]. For more
#information, note our general [GSoC] page.
#
#If you're looking for additional ideas, you might check out the
#todo, bugs, and ideas lists for [Inferno |
#http://code.google.com/p/inferno-os/wiki/Project_Suggestions],
#[9atom | http://www.quanstro.net/plan9/9atom/todo.html], and
#[Acme-SAC | http://code.google.com/p/acme-sac/issues/list]. These
#lists are more general and not everything on them will all be a good
#size for a summer, but they are good sources of inspiration. Some of
#the most promising fits are duplicated below. There's also our prior
#editions of this page: [gsoc-2013-ideas], [gsoc-2012-ideas], and
#[gsoc-2011-ideas].
#
#If you're a community member and you have an idea you'd be willing
#to act as mentor for, please add it to this page! Just follow the
#format given and provide a good summary of the project. If you'd
#like, create and link a wiki page with as much detail as you'd like
#(but please don't swamp this page). Please only add ideas you're
#willing to mentor (or have directly spoken to whoever you're marking
#down as mentor).
#
#Several of these ideas have the title linked to a page containing
#more information on the project.
#
# *	[Graphics / UI / draw(3)-related ideas | #GRAPHICS_IDEAS]
# *	[Kernel / port / low-level ideas | #KERNEL_IDEAS]
# *	[Web-related ideas | #WEB_IDEAS]
# *	[Compiler / dev tools / library ideas | #DEV_TOOLS_IDEAS]
# *	[Application ideas | #APPLICATION_IDEAS]
# *	[Networking ideas | #NETWORKING_IDEAS]
# *	[Security ideas | #SECURITY_IDEAS]
# *	[Other ideas | #OTHER_IDEAS]
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#GRAPHICS IDEAS
#
#Ideas related to Plan 9's graphics systems, including kernel
#devices, window systems, and supporting libraries.
#
# *	Create an [alternative window system] ✪✪ (Anthony Sorace)
#
#The Plan 9 windowing system is quite different from X11. Rendering
#is handled by the kernel graphics driver itself, with a user-mode
#application responsible for window management issues like placement,
#sizing, labels, and visability. Today, the only such program is
#rio(1). It would be fun to have a few alternatives. Design and
#implement an alternative interface. Some popular ideas include
#tiling interfaces (similar to acme(1) or X11's wmii or dwm),
#exploring keyboard-driven control, or touch-based interaction.
#
#A student looking to work on a project in this area should be
#familiar with Plan 9's existing windowing system, including rio(1)
#and draw(3), at a minimum. It would be good to also review some of
#the rio hacks found in the [contrib index].
#
# *	full color gamma corrector ✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Write a program to interactively gamma correct images. This project
#may be too small for a summer, so please expand the scope if you
#plan to work on this.
#
#A good place to start on this project is with mug(1).
#
# *	add panning and the ability to fill in tiles in imgloop(1) ✪✪
#	(Erik Quanstrom)
#
#This will allow navigation of radar(1) images, or google maps. The
#idea is to create a standalone program with no knowledge of how
#image navigation works, but works with an external program to
#identify and load images to allow for panning and zooming, such as
#for map navigation for a map too large to display on the screen.
#
# *	implement hqx or another image beautifier ✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#HQX allows for recovery of a decent looking image from a very small
#and pixelated image. This could be useful stand-alone, or to allow
#programs like faces(1) to scale their windows. This will allow
#better interoperability with screens with retina resolution.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#KERNEL IDEAS
#
#Project ideas related to the kernel, the various ports, or driver
#support. Note that we're always interested in ports to new hardware,
#provided you can ensure that you and your mentors have the same
#device. Pick anything and get Plan 9 working on it!
#
# *	Raspberry Pi work ✪✪
#
#The Raspberry Pi port, initially done by Richard Miller, has proven
#a very popular platform for Plan 9. It works well, but there is more
#that could be done with the hardware. We don't have any audio
#support, for example, and more could be done with the video driver.
#If you want to go a bit farther afield, we're not doing anything
#with the DSI or CSI connectors (nobody really is), although that'd
#involve getting the right hardware. It would be particularly fun to
#do a project involving a creative use of the GPIO pins.
#
# *	Kernel lock analyzer for amd64 kernel ✪✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Write a lock analyzer that can detect conflicting lock usage. For
#example, if lock a is held when lock b is acquired, then it would be
#invalid to acquire lock b then lock a in another codepath.
#
#This project is advanced in concept, but the code should be
#relatively straightforward.
#
# *	Kernel lock timing analyzer for amd64 kernel ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Write a lock timing analyzer in the spirit of devws(9) and
#wsprint(8), and a set of regression tests to track lock latency.
#
# *	MCS locks (i.e. queueing locks) for the kernel with a compatable
#	calling interface to lock(9) ✪✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Invent a mechanism for implementing MCS locks with a compatable
#interface to lock(9). This requires exploting the fact that plan 9
#locks must be acquired and released on the same processor. The
#student may wish to explot the fact that locks are typically stacked.
#
# *	A per-processor scheduler ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Rewrite the scheduler to be fundamentally per-processor, instead of
#per machine.
#
# *	Tune qmalloc(9), or write a replacement ✪✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Use lock analysis and automated test scripts to tune qmalloc(9), for
#example by providing a different set of quick-list buckets.
#alternatively, write a new malloc.
#
# *	A raid1 driver for sd(3) ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Write a raid1 driver for sd(3). This driver should use a composable
#header with a generic format on both disks. (so a raid1 of raid1s
#... would be possible.) It should support hot spares, and drive
#replacement. It should write any failures to any writable disks, so
#that reboots do not confuse a failed drive with a good one.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#WEB IDEAS
#
#Project ideas related to the web, either in Plan 9 tools providing
#web services or in ways to interact with Plan 9 systems.
#
# *	[Replace language for wikifs](4) ✪ (Anthony Sorace)
#
#The wikifs(4) in both Plan 9 and Inferno understand a very small set
#of cues when generating HTML. That set can be limiting. Replace it
#with something better, like Markdown. Markdown engines in C already
#exist, so the Plan 9 part of this shouldn't be too hard. I'd suggest
#doing the Inferno version as well, to make it a good summer sized
#project. Use any remaining time to convert any existing wiki docs
#that need it.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#DEV TOOLS IDEAS
#
#Project ideas related to compilers, development tools, or supporting
#libraries.
#
# *	FXR/LXR-like tree comparisons for Plan 9 ✪✪✪ (Anthony Sorace,
#	Jeff Sickel)
#
#[The LXR project | http://lxr.sourceforge.net] has created some very
#useful tools for cross-referencing different source trees. This idea
#has been productively expanded by [FXR | http://fxr.watson.org/] to
#compare across operationg systems (FXR includes various BSDs,
#Linuxes, and an old Plan 9 tree). As Plan 9 evolves, it would be
#very useful to tree maintainers to have an easy way to find, track,
#and explore differences between trees. This project would be to
#provide tools to scan different source trees (at least the Bell Labs
#tree, 9atom, and 9front; possibly Inferno, Plan 9 from User Space,
#and others) and allow users to see specific changes, perhaps
#including changes over time. Your proposal should describe the
#interface you're thinking about providing (file server? web
#application?), what you think some of the important issues are, and
#clearly define the scope of work (for example, will you be doing
#multi-way diffs, or just 1-to-1 comparisons?). Multiple Plan 9 sites
#would be happy to host the results of this work.
#
# *	modify the mips linker (vl, see 8l(1)) to optionally produce
#	pic32-compatable code ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#The PIC32 is a mips-like 32-bit processor with a lot of
#capabilities, and perhaps very useful for sensors, etc. Add a flag
#to the linker to emit code compatable with the PIC32. This project
#will require that the student gain some understanding of how Ken's
#toolchain works before the start of the coding period.
#
# *	Implement pthreads for APE ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
# *	Finish port of go to AMD64 ✪✪✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Most of the work is done, but there are still some lingering issues.
#This is rated most difficult because this project is going to
#require modification (or new implementation) of the lowest levels of
#the go runtime.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#APPLICATION IDEAS
#
#Ideas for applications; user-mode code in an existing environment.
#
# *	Port rtl-sdr to Plan 9 ✪✪✪ (Skip Tavakkolian)
#
#[rtl-sdr | http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr] is a C library
#that enables using the Realtek RTL2832U based DVB-T receivers as
#Software Defined Radio receivers (SDR). These inexpensive USB
#dongles ($20-$30) have been used as receivers for a variety of
#signaling systems and frequencies including ADS-B, GPS and GSM.
#Typically additional signal processing is performed by GnuRadio on
#data captured by rtl-sdr library. The main porting activity will
#involve replacing the calls to [LibUSB | http://www.libusb.org/]
#with an interface to Plan 9's usb server.
#
# *	Create additional modules for [pq] ✪✪ - ✪✪✪ (Anthony Sorace)
#
#The pq database is very modular. The principle data store is the ev
#module. The distribution also included a module which speaks a
#simple protocol to talk to an external pq server. Other modules have
#existed in the past to retrieve data from other sorts of servers,
#such as LDAP or SQL servers. It would be useful to have some of
#these again. Define a few modules and implement them over the summer.
#
#This project can be relatively simple or very complex, depending on
#what you decide to implemnt and how smart you want to make the
#module.
#
# *	A ProtoFS. ✪✪ (Skip Tavakkolian, Anthony Sorace)
#
#Write a 9P file server that can be instructed to create a file tree
#and associate each node with external directories, files or
#processes. Very roughly, the prototype file tree instructions might
#look something like:
#
#! 	/
#! 		fst/			= /usr/fst/www/
#! 		edit/
#! 			snarf		> /dev/snarf
#! 			paste	< /dev/snarf
#! 		mouse		| fd0rw /dev/mouse
#
# *	S3venti revisited ✪✪✪ (Charles Forsyth)
#
#Several years ago, R C Bilson contributed a suite of programs that
#provided a Venti-like service using Amazon's S3. (Venti is Plan 9's
#archival storage system, and the Plan 9 file system fossil(4) sits
#above venti.) Let's pull it out of the attic, dust it off, and set
#to work improving it (it has got a bugs list). There are many
#possible directions, which can depend on the interest and experience
#of the student; an obvious one is adding caching to improve
#performance. One application would be to provide archival storage
#for (say) Raspberry Pi running Plan 9, or an Inferno system with a
#Venti client.
#
# *	Ventilator ✪✪✪✪ (Charles Forsyth)
#
#Venti is a Plan 9 archival data service. It would be useful for
#Inferno to have a simple file system implementation that uses an
#existing Venti for its archive and initial state. It would have a
#basic, straightforward implementation. Some might say naive, but
#Plan 9's own Fossil is fairly complicated, at least for a summer
#project, and in retrospect has some limitations. It could store or
#cache file system metadata and data locally (and optionally
#separately). It would allow disconnected operation. It could be
#fairly slow (raw performance doesn't matter at this stage).
#
# *	Vcard reader and calendar application ✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Reading vcards and calendar information by hand is difficult, as is
#switching to another platform. Implement a vcard reader and calendar
#that work well with ned(1) and acme mail.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#NETWORKING IDEAS
#
#Ideas centered around network protocols, interoperability, and
#communication, including with foreign systems.
#
# *	Teach Plan 9 to speak mDNS/Bonjour ✪✪✪ (Steve Stallion, Jeff
#	Sickel)
#
#It would be nice for Plan 9 to be able to speak Bonjour. When in
#heterogeneous networks, there are various services that Plan 9
#cannot serve without being able to do so. Get the protocol working
#and integrate it with Plan 9's existing ndb/cs infrastructure.
#
# *	NATP implementation in the style of bridge(3) ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Write a NATP device that can route to the same interface, or between
#interfaces. The NATP device should be independent of the IP stack,
#and be able to support both IP4 and IP6.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#SECURITY IDEAS
#
#Ideas centered around extending or enhancing authentication and
#authorization capabilities of the system.
#
# *	Add support for OAuth2 Login (i.e. OpenID Connect) authentication
#	to factotum ✪✪✪ (Skip Tavakkolian)
#
# *	Implement TLS 1.2 in libsec. ✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
# *	Implement
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#
#OTHER IDEAS
#
#Project ideas that don't fit into - or span multiple of - the above
#catagories.
#
# *	9p on Arduino Yún ✪✪✪ (Skip Tavakkolian)
#
#The [Arduino Yún | http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoYun] is
#essentially two systems in one: a MIPS-based Linux system -- Linino
#-- and a more-or-less traditional Arduino on the same board. The
#project would involve porting [Plan 9 From User Space |
#http://swtch.com/plan9port/] -- a.k.a plan9port -- to Linino and
#writing a 9p fileserver that exposes the Arduino's capabilities,
#such as access to the pins. It is important to also write a few
#sample applications showing the typical ways the fileserver is used.
#This project gets the extra fun of defining the interface method,
#since there isn't something specific the student needs to try and
#match. Plan9port makes this project relatively straight forward; the
#more ambitious option would be to replace the Linux installation
#outright with a Plan 9 installation.
#
# *	Access to more host devices and subsystems for Inferno ✪✪-✪✪✪✪
#	(Charles Forsyth)
#
#Hosted Inferno has been used to build portable applications,
#especially distributed ones, but it is limited in its support for
#host devices. Different systems often have rather different APIs to
#access media devices, for instance. This project would pick one or
#two of the more eccentric devices from the hosted system - ie. video
#(from camera and/or video capture), tablet/pen controls w/pressure
#sensitivity, 3D mice, etc.; write separate host programs that serve
#a name space using 9P; and then write Inferno applications to use
#them. In an object-oriented fashion, there could be different
#instances of this project, with students working on interfaces for
#different target devices. There might be relevant components in
#[lsub.org's Octopus system | http://lsub.org/ls/projects.html].
#
# *	UEFI compatable boot loader ✪✪✪✪✪ (Erik Quanstrom)
#
#Many x86 devices such as the Intel Quark no longer support BIOS
#booting methods. Implement a UEFI boot loader capable of loading
#Plan 9, and modify the x86 kernels to be compatable with this new
#loader (if required).
#