Getting started with kernel development
First Steps
Kernel coder Greg Kroah-Hartman explains how to take your first steps with the kernel team – and highlights some exciting new developments in Linux.
No discussion of Linux is complete without a look at the sprawling yet wonderfully efficient operation at the center of it all: the kernel development project. For an inside look, we chased down one of the leading insiders: Greg Kroah-Hartman is a Linux Foundation fellow and the maintainer of the kernel stable branch. He also created the udev device manager, founded the Linux Driver project, and worked on many other drivers and subsystems in the Linux space. We asked Greg how he got started – and how an aspiring kernel hacker who is new in the field could take their first steps.
Linux Magazine: For readers who don't know you, how long have you been working on the Linux kernel, what are you working on, and how does that influence your daily routine?
Greg Kroah-Hartman: I started contributing to Linux pretty late compared to many other core kernel developers, with my first patches getting merged I think in 1997 or 1998. I had been using Linux for quite a while before that, but I just did not have the time to contribute to it before then.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.