Ideas Page

Introduction

This is our ideas page for new developers who want to participate in the Google Summer of Code event by contributing to KolibriOS. It also contains a description of the process and requirements to participate.
A general information about Google Summer of Code can be found here: Google Summer of Code

Google Summer of Code'24 Contributor Requirements

Prospective contributors are required to register on our developers forum and submit a small bugfix / improvement to our SVN or GIT in order for their application to be considered. Examples of such tasks can be obtained by asking on the developers forum or on our IRC channel (#kolibrios @ irc.libera.chat). This requirement is only to show us that you are able to work with our SVN or GIT and interact with our developers if you are selected.
This task has to be completed before contributor application deadline (2 April 18:00 UTC).

In addition, contributors need to answer the following questions when applying:

1. Full Name (First + Last Name).
2. E-mail address.
3. Nickname you plan to use on our forums, SVN/GIT repository or IRC chat.
4. Age.
5. Country + city of residence (Russia and Belarus residence are not allowed according to GSoC terms)
6. Human languages you speak (write all languages and knowledge level - basic/intermediate/expert/mother tongue).
7. Name of college or university you are accepted into or enrolled in + link to their website (if applicable).
8. Name of program (or faculty, or department) in that college/university you are accepted into or enrolled in (if applicable).
9. Your current timezone in UTC/GMT terms (for example, Paris is UTC/GMT +1 hours right now).
10. Have you been involved with any open-source project in the past? If yes, which one, and what have you done for that project?
11. Code samples - please provide links to code that you have written. It can be your high school project, contribution to open-source organization, your college/university task or anything like that.
12. The task you are willing to work on from our list of Summer of Code 2024 ideas (or suggest your own idea, if you don't like any of the proposed ideas).
13. What other time commitments, such as school work, another job, planned vacation, etc., will you have between May 27 and August 26?

Organization

You can find the organizers at our forum: https://board.kolibrios.org

Name	Nickname	Role
Ivan Baravy	dunkaist	Administrator, Mentor
Jeffrey Amelynck	hidnplayr	Mentor, Backup Administrator
Dmitriy Smirnov	Pathoswithin	Mentor
Serhii Sakhno	Punk_Joker	Mentor
Kiril Lipatov	Leency	C-- Mentor
Konstantin Pakhtusov	KPG	Mentor (Forth)

Ideas

Sortable list of ideas for easy navigation

Idea Name	Area	Programming Language	Mentors
OpenBios in Loader	Kernel/Application	Forth, FASM (Assembler), C	KPG
File system improvement	Kernel/Application	FASM (Assembler)	Pathoswithin
Widget toolkit	System wide	FASM (Assembler), C	dunkaist
Finish Mbed TLS port	Library	C, FASM (Assembler)	Punk_Joker
Port FLTK	Library	C++	Punk_Joker
FASMG port	Application	FASM/FASMG (Assembler)	dunkaist
Unicode library	Library/Application	FASM (Assembler)	dunkaist
Virt-IO driver	Kernel	FASM (Assembler)	dunkaist
Loop device driver	Kernel	FASM (Assembler)	dunkaist
NVMe driver	Kernel	FASM (Assembler)	Punk_Joker
RSS/Atom news reader	Application	FASM (Assembler)	dunkaist
SDL2 Port	Library	C	dunkaist
Add HTML forms to WebView	Application	C--	Leency
J2ME Emulator	Application	C, Java	dunkaist
Rust library development for KolibriOS	Library	Rust, FASM (Assembler)	dunkaist

OpenBios in Loader

General Description

OpenBIOS is a free, portable implementation of IEEE 1275-1994 (Open Firmware). Find detailed information about OpenBIOS OpenBIOS can replace your system firmware (BIOS) partly or completely. It can also be used as a bootloader to create an Open Firmware compatible interface between legacy firmware and an operating system. This is achieved by a modular concept that consists of a portable Forth kernel and three interfaces for user interaction, device initialization and client (operating system) control in command line like shell in Linux.

What it gives us

OpenBios implentation Fcode [1] has small bytecode, is hardware independent and efficient. And an evaluator (bytecode virtual machine) is almost trivial to implement or/and with possible an uses JIT technology. So it is great way to implement a unified and functional bootloader for KolibriOS.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Add OpenBios ("Forth") support to the system bootloader.
  • Additional: Create simple interactive more device drivers.
• Language: Forth, Assembler/FASM, C.
• Difficulty: Hard, you need to be familiar with how BOIS systems and OS loaders work in general.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • OpenBios Firmware on GitHub

File system improvement

General Description

KolibriOS has already implemented support for many file systems, both write and read, but at the same time support for some systems leaves a lot to be desired and opens up a vast scope for work.

What it gives us

Support for more file systems, particularly write support, will greatly expand the functionality of KolibriOS, especially when working with files on third-party drives.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Add write support for ext4 file system (ext4 reading and ext2 writing are already supported).
  • Additional: Improve write support for NTFS file system.
• Language: Assembler/FASM.
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with how file systems work in general, and writing drivers.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Ext4 Disk Layout
  • NTFS documentation
  • Driver development for KolibriOS

Widget toolkit expansion

General Description

At the moment KolibriOS has its own library (box_lib) for implementing various GUI widgets (input fields, checkboxes, scrolls, etc.). However, its functionality is far from complete, and its extension would be very useful for further application development.

What it gives us

Extended functionality of the library would help developers in the future to create applications with more complex interface, spending less effort on it, as well as to unify interface components in existing applications.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Extend box_lib (a set of separate widgets) to create a full-featured widget toolkit, design it's architecture and implement focus handling, callbacks and other core ideas.
  • Additional: Integrate created box_lib widgets to the C-framework, extend framework with font handling, layout manager
• Language: Assembler/FASM, C (Framework).
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with library development and FASM Assembler.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Baic idea
  • List of toolkits
  • box_lib source code on KolibriOS WebSVN
  • box_lib source code on KolibriOS GitHub

Finish Mbed TLS port

General Description

Mbed TLS is an implementation of the TLS and SSL protocols and associated cryptographic algorithms and support code that aims to be "easy to understand, use, integrate and extend".

What it gives us

The implementation of MbedTLS support will significantly expand the capabilities of the KolibriOS networking stack and allow it to be used in more networking scenarios, for example, HTTPS support.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Finish MbedTLS port (headers for FASM, get ceritificates working) (TODOs).
  • Additional: Update HTTP library (written in FASM) to support HTTPS by using mbedtls.obj.
• Language: C, Assembler/FASM.
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with library porting.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Mbed TLS port thread on KolibriOS forum
  • Mbed TLS source code on GitHub

FLTK Port

General Description

FLTK, or Fast Light Toolkit, is a cross-platform GUI toolkit. It is designed to provide modern GUI functionality without overkill and supports 3D graphics via OpenGL and native GLUT emulation.

What it gives us

FLTK provides a wide and convenient enough choice of plugins to implement a complex GUI, and is also cross-platform, and therefore its support in KolibriOS will make it easier to write applications. Also, compared to other UI libraries, FLTK uses a lighter design and is limited to GUI functionality.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Make a working port of FLTK widget library and add it to the automatic build system.
  • Additional: Port Scintilla source code editing component (minimum working version).
• Language: C++, C--, Assembler/FASM
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with library porting.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • FLTK official site
  • Scitnilla official documentation

FASMG port

General Description

In 2018 Tomasz Gryshtar (creator of FASM) introduced FASMG, a new assembler engine with more advanced features for simplified writing of complex code. It is quite a powerful and useful tool, and so it would be nice to support its new syntax in KolibriOS.

What it gives us

The kernel, drivers and many programs in KolibriOS are written exactly in FASM Assembler, and porting FASMG would make life easier for developers who work on improving the OS functionality.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write FASMG application like FASM one. Port standard KolibriOS macros to FASMG syntax.
  • Additional: Implement macros for compatibility with FASM.
• Language: Assembler/FASM/FASMG
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with FASM Assembly language.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • FASMG overview,
  • FASMG manual

Unicode library

General Description

Unicode is a character encoding standard that includes characters from almost all written languages of the world. The standard is currently prevalent on the Internet and is also frequently used in modern operating systems. The main advantage of Unicode is that it supports a huge number of characters, which allows it to be used for encoding and storing almost any textual information.

What it gives us

Unicode is a large and complex standard, nevertheless, modern OS should provide libraries with Unicode related routines like NFC, NFD, sorting, comparing, etc. Support for this standard in KolibriOS would greatly increase its compatibility with various data sources, and make new application scenarios available.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write a tiny Unicode library with core Unicode algorithms and example application.
  • Additional: Update existing applications to use the new library.
• Language: Assembler/FASM
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with writing libraries and FASM Assembler language.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Official Unicode documentation
  • Some example of Unicode library (libutf folder)

VirtIO driver

General Description

VirtIO is a virtualization standard for network and disk device drivers where just the guest's device driver "knows" it is running in a virtual environment, and cooperates with the hypervisor. This enables guests to get high performance network and disk operations, and gives most of the performance benefits of paravirtualization.

What it gives us

Because there is no easy way to automatically install KolibriOS on a hard disk, it is often used specifically in a virtualized environment, and therefore improving support and device performance in this situation would be extremely beneficial to it.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write kernel driver for any VirtIO device, for example - Ethernet card.
  • Additional: Also write drivers for any another VirtIO devices.
• Language: Assembler/FASM
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with writing drivers and FASM Assembly language.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Virt-IO wiki
  • Driver development for KolibriOS

Loop device driver

General Description

Loop device, vnd (vnode disk), or lofi (loop file interface) is a pseudo-device that makes a computer file accessible as a block device. After mounting a file that holds a file system, the files in that system can be accessed through the usual file system interface of the operating system, without any need for special functionality, such as reading and writing to ISO images, in applications.

What it gives us

Loop device drivers allow for mounting a file that holds a file system, making the files within that file system accessible. It also provides a block device on top of a file (or another block device, optionally with remapping). Lastly, if the file contains an encrypted file system, the loop device can be the decrypted version of the original encrypted file and can therefore be mounted as if it were a normal file system.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write loop device driver and example application to manage loop devices.
  • Additional: Prepare a set of disk images to be used in filesystem unit tests.
• Language: Assembler/FASM.
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with writing drivers and FASM Assembly language.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • Loop device overview
  • Driver development for KolibriOS

NVMe driver

General Description

NVM Express (NVMe) is a specification of protocols for accessing solid-state drives (SSDs) connected by the PCI Express bus. The first specification appeared in 2014 and since then this standard has been widely used, in particular, for SSDs in desktop and mobile devices.

What it gives us

In recent years, the use of NVMe drives has become increasingly popular in personal computers, and the implementation of their support is very important in terms of compatibility and the ability to work with data in KolibriOS.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write basic NVMe device driver to support NVMe SSD.
  • Additional: Add support of namespaces.
• Languages: Assembly/FASM.
• Difficulty: Hard, you need to be familiar with writing drivers and FASM Assembly language.
• Time/Size: 350 hours.
• Links:
  • NVMe Base Specification
  • Driver development for KolibriOS

RSS/Atom news reader

General Description

RSS and Atom are web feeds that allow users and applications to access updates of websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. For the average user, it can be used primarily as a news/update feed, where the user can subscribe to channels of interest and receive news or other updates from different sources in one place. They are based on XML and can easily be processed using AsmXml library. User application for reading RSS/Atom feeds would be a good addition to usability of KolibriOS, as it will allow users to read news feeds from different sources without need to manually open news websites.

What it gives us

RSS/Atom feed can be a great addition to the KolibriOS functionality, as it allows users to conveniently receive updates from different sources, including even on very weak devices, where opening the source of interest in the browser is impossible or problematic.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Write RSS news reader as a standalone KolibriOS application.
  • Additional: Also add Atom standart support to the app.
• Language: Any, but Assembly/FASM is preffarable.
• Difficulty: Easy, you need to be familiar with XML processing and HTTP requests, as well as general app development for KolibriOS.
• Time/Size: 90 hours.
• Links:
  • RSS on Wikipedia
  • Atom on Wikipedia
  • Big amont of information and implementation examples
  • RSS specification
  • Atom specification
  • AsmXml library

SDL2 Port

General Description

SDL is a free cross-platform multimedia library that implements an interface to graphics, sound and input devices. This library is actively used when writing cross-platform graphical applications (mostly games). The previous version of the library, SDL 1.2, is already ported for KolibriOS, but there is no SDL 2 port, which is the most up-to-date and supported version.

What it gives us

Having support for SDL 2 in KolibriOS will not only allow developers to develop new applications using the updated functionality of the library, but also to port a huge number of existing open source programs (mostly emulators and games) from other platforms, because SDL 2 is often used to implement frontend/graphics in such applications.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Make a working port of SDL2.
  • Additional: Port additional SDL2 libraries: SDL2_image, SDL2_mixer, SDL2_ttf, etc.
  • Extra: Also port SDL 1.2 comatiblity layer to run old apps on new version of library.
• Languages: C.
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with general library porting and library development for KolibriOS.
• Time/Size: 175 hours.
• Links:
  • SDL Library official website
  • SDL 1.2 source code
  • Source code of current implementation of SDL in KolibriOS

Add HTML forms support to WebView

General Description

Despite supporting many basic HTML features, the WebView browser does not currently support HTML forms (<form>, <input>, etc.). This makes its use extremely limited and prevents it from utilizing the functionality of many popular sites. Therefore, it would be great to implement this functionality in WebView.

What it gives us

Because of the lack of form support, WebView can't even use search engines directly (currently only indirect use of Google in the address bar is possible). This alone would be a great addition to its capabilities and would make its use much more convenient and intuitive. In addition, forms could also be used on sites like online libraries or forums, thus giving KolibriOS users a more complete access to the Internet.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Add support for <form>, <input> tags for types that was prior to HTML5.
  • Additional: Add input types that was introduced in HTML5.
• Language: C--.
• Difficulty: Easy, you need to be familiar with HTML parsing and web requests.
• Time/Size: 90 hours.
• Links:
  • HTML forms specification
  • WebView source code on SVN
  • WebView source code on GitHub

J2ME Emulator

General Description

J2ME (Java Platform, Micro Edition) is a version of the Java platform for devices with limited resources, such as cell phones, pocket computers, etc. It was especially popular in the 00s, when most mobile phones ran on it. Accordingly, a large number of software for this platform was created at that time, and it would be quite nice to have its support in KolibriOS.

What it gives us

There are already quite a lot of emulators for various retro platforms, which makes it possible to use it, including for retro gaming. Therefore, support for another popular platform will certainly not hurt, especially since in addition to a lot of great games for J2ME also released other programs that can be useful.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Port JVM and java.microedition.* runtime.
  • Additional: Make it run most of popular J2ME games.
• Languages: C, Java.
• Difficulty: Hard, you need to be familiar with emulators porting and Java Runtime Enviroment.
• Time/Size: 350 hours.
• Links:
  • J2ME official website
  • Non-official J2ME documentation
  • miniJVM - open-source Java virtual machine implementation
  • Source code of other emulators in KolibriOS on GitHub, as possible referece

Rust library development for KolibriOS

General Description

At the moment, the Rust library for KolibriOS is in the early stages of development - it doesn't support all system functions, and it doesn't know how to work with system libraries. You can do a great thing, and help in the design and development of this library!

What it gives us

Rust is a modern programming language that has been actively gaining popularity in recent years, and the number of its users is growing. In addition, it is positioned as fast and compact, which fits perfectly with the KolibriOS ideology. Therefore, it would be very good to have its support as another tool for potential developers.

Other information

• Goals:
  • Primary: Implement other system functions support. Make wrappers for DLL's.
• Languages: Rust, Assembly/FASM (optional).
• Difficulty: Intermediate, you need to be familiar with Rust development.
• Time/Size: 350 hours.
• Links:
  • KolibriOS kernel API (ru) or sysfuncs.txt
  • KolibriOS libraries (ru)
• Working repository:
  • Git

Rough Guide for Prospective Contributors

• As the kernel is written in FASM, ability to write and understand i386-assembly code is very useful.
• C is also a plus as some applications/libraries and components are written in C. Also, C is useful to interface with assembly at times.
• Familiarity with the GNU landscape like Autotools, GCC etc are also a plus to have (especially for porting software)
• The desire to take challenging problems and solve them is also required as several parts of the code base require thought for design and implementation. (The mentors can help you with that :) )
• Hanging out on LiberaChat's #kolibriOS and our forum where developers mostly hang out.
• Languages used for communication are English and Russian (although most developers are bilingual, and you can always ask someone for help)
• Get in touch with other developers via IRC / Forums and enjoy your stay!

I'm a potential GSoC contributor. I'm scared of all the assembly and docs here! Where should I start?! :'(

Start here : http://wiki.kolibrios.org/wiki/HowTo This will help you set up KolibriOS. Easiest will be to use either Qemu or VirtualBox as most developers use it and thus will be able to help you with eventual problems. Feel free however to try something else and let us know how it goes!

I'm a potential GSoC contributor. What is this test task?!

Regarding the test mentioned above, it is for assessing your current skill set and their relevance regarding the project that you want to eventually work on. In most cases, your potential mentor will assign you a task via IRC / Forum but another developer can do this as well. Meanwhile, In case you are waiting for a test task, you can go through our bug tracker and find a small task to work on yourself, or learn about KolibriOS by going through example code.

I want to play with the code but my college blocks SVN

If you are have trouble accessing, please do mention it on the forums. You can temporarily use this backup git repository:

• http://repo.or.cz/w/kolibrios.git

Or our official GitHub mirror:

• https://github.com/KolibriOS/kolibrios

All the ideas seem interesting, But...

Feel free to suggest your own idea! This is encouraged largely both in GSoC and KolibriOS. The mentors will be glad to such an idea and assess it's feasibility/usability for KolibriOS.

Great Guide! But I still don't understand X

Please read Documentation / Development pages on this Wiki. If you have any doubts, feel free to connect with other KolibriOS users and developers through Forum Chat or #kolibrios on LiberaChat.
Please ask developers / mentors on Forum Chat or IRC. Please be patient on IRC and Forum as developers are on different time zones and it might take a few hours to get back to you. You can also start a Forum thread if it is about something you feel is a general issue.

And most importantly... Have Fun!