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authorMichael I. Bushnell <mib@gnu.org>1996-07-18 04:35:29 +0000
committerMichael I. Bushnell <mib@gnu.org>1996-07-18 04:35:29 +0000
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parent88dbbbf9e48e24f1ac007c1e4eeffd9caf8e2fad (diff)
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+GNU Hurd Task List Version 1.15. Last updated 13 July 1996.
+
+If you would like to work on one of these, please contact
+mib@gnu.ai.mit.edu. It's important that you let me know what's being
+worked on, because someone else might also be interested, and you
+should coordinate work.
+
+Items that we want done with more priority are marked with !!!.
+
+
+
+General system work
+
+ * Compile all the free programs you can find to help us fix bugs in
+ the system, and to submit necessary ports to the maintainers of
+ those programs. A good place to start is the list in SOURCES under
+ the heading `Give up'.
+
+ * See how much of X compiles.
+
+ * Do whatever magic is necessary for Perl to take advantage of all
+ the nifty Hurd features that Unix doesn't have.
+
+
+
+Mach 3.0 Work
+
+If you plan to work on the microkernel, you should be on the mailing list
+for the University of Utah's Mach4 distribution; that is the microkernel
+distribution that GNU will use. To get on the mailing list, send mail to
+mach4-users-request@schirf.cs.utah.edu. You should discuss proposed
+microkernel work there as well as with mib@gnu.ai.mit.edu.
+
+!!!
+ * Mach 3.0 needs many new device drivers for popular PC devices.
+ Shantanu Goel at Utah is doing work in this area; coordinate with him.
+
+!!!
+ * A replacement for MiG that understood C .h files.
+ Utah is working on a new IDL compiler; coordinate with them.
+
+ * Bootstrap tools and documentation to help people set up Mach 3.0
+ machines if they already have Linux; if they already have Net BSD;
+ if they don't have anything. (See Utah Lites dist.)
+
+!!!
+ * Mach 3.0 needs to provide support for task virtual timers similar
+ in functionality to the Unix ITIMER_PROF and ITIMER_VIRTUAL timers.
+
+!!!
+ * Mach 3.0 needs to provide a way for users to do statistical PC
+ profiling similar to the Unix profil system call.
+
+!!!
+ * Mach 3.0 needs to make switches from MEMORY_OBJECT_COPY_DELAY to
+ MEMORY_OBJECT_COPY_NONE have the effect of immediately completing any
+ delayed copies.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a facility to automatically send task and thread
+ status on task/thread exit to a port that can only be changed by
+ a privileged user; this would be used to implement process
+ accounting.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a facility to find out what task is the parent of
+ a given task.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a facility to find out which pages of a task's
+ address space are in core to implement Unix's mincore call.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a facility to do msync.
+
+ * Utah Mach needs the OSF vm_remap call.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a replacement for MEMORY_OBJECT_COPY_CALL that
+ works at least for the cases needed in ordinary files. (Write mib if
+ you want to know what the problem is and some ideas about how to
+ solve it.)
+
+!!!
+ * Mach 3.0 needs proxy memory objects. (mib can tell you what these
+ are and why they are important.)
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a way to do per-task resource counters that are
+ accessible to servers called by the task.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 should keep a timestamp of the creation of each task.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs facilities to implement resource limits of various sorts.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs a way to have a thread's CPU time statistics
+ include time spent by servers on its behalf. [This has been done
+ for the migrating-threads version of Mach; talk to mib before starting
+ work on it.]
+
+ * Of course, free ports are always necessary to machines that don't
+ already have free ports.
+
+ * Much work can be done doing research in how to improve Mach VM
+ performance and timesharing scheduling policy.
+
+!!!
+ * We need a good malloc for multi-threaded programs that uses
+ vm_allocate. It should probably be based on the current GNU malloc,
+ as well as merge the mmalloc interfaces used by some existing GNU
+ packages.
+
+ * Mach 3.0 needs facilities to get a list of all the devices which
+ can be device_open'd, as well as to get the type of a device.
+
+ * A way to have the kernel send a message on some designated port
+ everytime a new task is started.
+
+ * OSF has enhanced the exception_raise protocol to include thread_state
+ information. This code should be merged into the kernel; OSF people
+ have said their could could be released to the public (but it has not
+ appeared).
+
+ * Implement TASK_EVENTS_INFO.
+
+ * Add a timestamp for task and thread creation to the relevant info
+ structures (and make sure it works for the kernel task and threads).
+
+
+Hurd work (these are brief descriptions; mib can give more information):
+
+!!!
+ * An RPC trace program to aid debugging. Ask roland for more info.
+
+ * Programs that use utmp need to be changed to use /utmp and utmp.defs.
+
+ * We need some standard translators for /utmp nodes; most importantly
+ one for ordinary terminals (set up by login) and one for X displays
+ (set up by xdm).
+
+!!!
+ * We need some existing shell programs changed to do Hurd things:
+ like id, su, ls, tar, cpio, etc.
+
+ * Handy shell programs to send msgport msgs, and change default init
+ ports and ints.
+
+ * Shadow directory translators.
+
+ * A system for write, send, talkd and so forth to bleep users;
+ this should be integrated with the utmp replacement above.
+
+ * X. (Porting XFree86 should not be hard.)
+
+ * A filesystem for /tmp that uses virtual memory instead of disk.
+ (Roland has some ideas about this.)
+
+ * Filesystem implementations (using libdiskfs) for other popular
+ formats. Importantly, MSDOS FAT format.
+
+
+ * Transparent FTP translator.
+
+ * A fancy terminal driver that uses readline and supports detach/attach.
+
+ * A notepad program to hold and keep track of ports for shell scripts.
+
+
+
+C library work. See roland@gnu.ai.mit.edu if you are interested in working
+on anything in the C library.
+
+ * Useful response to SIGINFO.
+
+ * Better integration with cthreads.