Minutes for the August 7, 2014 TAB meeting

Present:

• James Bottomley
• Jonathan Corbet
• Thomas Gleixner
• Greg Kroah-Hartman
• John Linville
• Chris Mason
• Ric Wheeler

1) Realtime Linux

The realtime preemption patch set has been under development for years; during that time, much of it has made it into the mainline, but much of the trickiest code remains out of tree. In the discussion, it was pointed out that there is a roadmap for the merging of this code into the mainline; a step for which it is alleged to be “almost ready.” But there is a shortage of companies willing to pay for this work. So, it was said, the Linux Foundation should step up and make it happen.

Thomas reported that the LF has been trying hard to pull together this funding. That effort has involved trying to get largish sums of money from a few member companies, something that is always hard to do. Some companies don't see why it should be something they have to fund.

The Linux Foundation evidently has some funds of its own to put in toward this goal, but more is required. James suggested that a request from the TAB would add weight to a request for funding. The group voted on this question:

Should the Linux Foundation return to its member companies in search of the approximately $400,000 needed to finish the realtime work, and should those companies respond favorably?

The question passed unanimously, with Thomas abstaining from the vote.

2) Kernel testing

Shuah Khan has been working full time on the creation of a kernel testing framework; a posting has been made to the Kernel Summit mailing list. Further discussion was expected to happen at the Summit. Much of the necessary infrastructure has been merged during the 3.17 merge window.

3) Critical infrastructure initiative update

The Linux Foundation is trying to hire a project manager for this effort; there are also some additions (“crypto and open-source people”) being made to the advisory board. Not much else is happening with CII at the moment.

It was pointed out that there is no obvious way to request funding from CII. There is, it seems, already a huge list of projects being considered for funding. The project manager, when they come on board, will have to resolve that and come up with a way for requests to be made.

4) Linux Plumbers Conference

James reported: the conference has 15 microconferences planned and is “full to bursting.” Sponsorships are doing OK; the event, as a whole, appears to be in good shape.

5) UEFI secure boot

[UEFI discussions are held under NDA]

6) Other UEFI news

[UEFI discussions are held under NDA]

7) Other business

What is the status of the call for bids for the 2015 Linux Plumbers Conference? Promises were made to get it issued soon.