Google Summer of Code Now Underway
The interesting part of the Google Summer of Code has finally started, and we have six interesting and prospective projects this year.
Venkatesh Srinivas is working on an improved virtual memory manager for Plan 9.
I am proposing to improve the virtual memory system of Plan 9 and to use the
improved VM to implement a better libc memory allocator.
Currently, Plan 9 allows programs to create anonymous memory segments; it
has a limit of less than five segments per-process, however. I propose
replacing the limited per-process segment array with a structure that allows
for a much larger number of segments and implementing a memory allocator
that takes advantage of the liberal number of anonymous segments.
Mentor: Erick Quanstrom
Jesus Galan is going to be intergrating some improvements to 9vx.
When 9vx was released some years ago it was presented as an experiment, a
demostration of what was possible combining vx32 and Plan9. Time passed by
and, today, the 9vx experiment can be considered a sucess: it is replacing
drawterm in many Unix systems, is a good test bed for experimentation and
trying Plan 9 is easier than ever. The objective of this project is to
integrate into the 9vx source some improvements done by 9fans and explore
how to make it better.
Mentor: Devon O'Dell
John David is working a Plan 9 approach to Heirarchical Patch Dynamics (9hpd)
This project builds simulation and modeling tools used for
spatially-explicit multiscale integrative modeling using a Plan 9
reimplementation of the (HPD-MP).
Successful completion will include a series of multiscale modeling examples
running on 9vx and/or Inferno in a distribution that focuses on ease of use
and accessibility for non-computer scientists.
Hierarchical Patch Dynamics Modeling Platform
Mentor: Ron Minnich
Michael Block is doing work on input methods in Plan 9.
I propose implementing a system that enables Plan 9 to accept non-English
input.
Mentor: Noah Evans
Andre Guenther is planning on porting drawterm to the iPhone.
Goal of this project is to port drawterm to the iPhone. Drawterm is a mean
of making a cpu connection to a Plan 9 machine without running a Plan 9
terminal. With the possibility to mount client devices into the host system
enables interesting interaction with the iPhone platform. Thus, this port
should also encourage future experimentation with the mobile usage of Plan9.
Another interesting aspect is, how the mouse and keyboard driven interface
of rio translates into a touchscreen based device.
Mentor: Jeff Sickel Project page.
Per Odlund is working on another arm port, this time to the IGEPv2.
All though how great software might be, if we can't use it, it's value
deteriorate. One of the most common questions of people that want to try or
expand their usage of plan9 is: does it work on x or y? As the mobile
devices get more and powerful it would be intressting to see the usage of
plan9 in this area. Adding support for IGEPv2 , Cortex A8 and armv7 is a
first step in this direction.
Mentor: Charles Forsyth
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