LinuxCon North America 2012 Schedule

LinuxCon (North America) 2012 will take place on August 29 – 31, 2012 at Sheraton Hotel & Marina, in San Diego, California. The event will be co-located with the Linux Kernel Summit, the Linux Plumbers Conference, and CloudOpen 2012.

LinuxCon consists of 3 days of keynotes, business and developers related sessions as well as tutorials. There will be over 80 sessions and keynotes during those 3 days. I’ll highlight a few sessions that I find particularly interesting and related to embedded Linux, software development and ARM.

August 29

10:45 – 11:30 – Life After BerkeleyDB: OpenLDAP’s Memory-Mapped Database by Howard Chu, Symas

Abstract: OpenLDAP’s new MDB library is a highly optimized B+tree implementation that is orders of magnitude faster and more efficient than everything else in the software world. Reads scale perfectly linearly across arbitrarily many CPUs with no bottlenecks, and data is returned with zero memcpy’s. Writes are on average twenty times faster than commonly available databases such as SQLite. The entire library compiles down to only 32K of object code, allowing it to execute completely inside a typical CPU’s L1 cache. Backends for OpenLDAP slapd, Cyrus SASL, Heimdal, SQLite, and OpenDKIM have already been written, with other projects in progress.

10:45 – 11:30 – Is Android the New Embedded Linux? by Karim Yaghmour, Opersys

Abstract: Linux has been used in embedded systems for quite some time now. “Embedded” in fact represents a substantial part of Linux’s use. Yet, to this day, there’s no single definition of what “Embedded Linux” is. For all practical purposes, “Embedded Linux” remains a set of ad-hoc recipes for building embedded systems based on the Linux kernel; each such system requiring a separate API spec and license vetting. Android on the other hand is a shrink-wrapped embedded Linux distro that has a stable, consistent API, a growing developer community and ODM-friendly licensing. Will these benefits make Android the default building block for Linux-based embedded systems? If so, what does that mean for the wider embedded Linux community, and, for that matter, Linux itself?

11:40 – 12: 45 – Staying ahead of the multi-core revolution with GDB/CDT by Dominique Toupin, Ericsson

Abtract: These days multi-core chips are unavoidable, more executions needs to be done in parallel and problems become extremely difficult to debug. Upcoming GDB features will facilitate multi-core debugging: global breakpoints with kernel module, PTC sets debug control, target side thread/core bkp/tcp, auto-disabling breakpoints, detection of thread core affinity error, dynamic-printf. Furthermore, the amount of asynchronous data cannot be handled via the cmd line anymore. The Eclipse Multi-Core Debugging Work Group are thus developing the multicore visualizer, dynamic grouping of cores/processes/threads, pinning/cloning of debugging views, GDB events and are synchronizing with the GDB cmd line. In addition, existing multi-core features will be described e.g. non-stop, multi-process, reversible-debugging, tracepoint and LTTng UST markers. A must for anyone who has to debug multicore systems.

14:00 – 14:45 – LLVM-compiled Linux for the Real World by Bryce Adelstein-Lelbach, Center for Computation and Technology

Abstract: Why use Clang and LLVM to compile the Linux kernel? The proposed talk aims to answer this question by focusing on the application of the Clang/LLVM framework to real-world problems. First, Clang’s powerful ability to manipulate and analyze source code will be presented as a tool for detecting bugs and refactoring code. Then, the performance of Clang/LLVM will be considered, and benchmarks comparing GCC-compiled Linux and LLVM-compiled Linux will be shown. A handful of open-source Clang/LLVM examples (plugins and utilities) will be discussed during the presentation and made available for attendees to experiment with.

14:00 – 14:45 – LTSI (Long-Term Stable Initiative) by Tsugikazu Shibata, NEC

Abstract: LTSI (Long-Term Stable Initiative) had been established October 2011 as an activity of CE Working Group of the Linux Foundation. LTSI will maintain Long term stable Linux kernel for use of Consumer Electronics industry to share common cost regarding and also help industry engineers to merge their patches into upstream. This talk will update latest status of LTSI project and discuss about next step such as how the development process going on and what version of Linux kernel will be maintained for long term stable use.

14:55 – 15:30 – Is Auto the new Android? Driving Innovation with Linux Platforms by Dave Gruber, Black Duck Software

Abstract: Like Android years ago, the automotive industry has started to standardize a core Linux-based platform. The question is: how will the auto industry learn from Android’s success and blossom into a thriving application platform where developers can participate and profit? In this session we will compare and contrast the future of the automotive platform with Android success, discuss the projects on the critical path to opening this new market opportunity, and provide tips on how you can participate early to maximize your involvement as the industry grows.

14:55 – 15:30 – LTTng 2.0: Tracing, Analysis and Views for Performance and Debugging by- Mathieu Desnoyers, EfficiOS Inc.

Abstract: LTTng 2.0 can be used with various tools which help digging through large amount of trace data, from high-level perspectives down to the details. This presentation will focus on the usability of LTTng, showing how the combined user-space and kernel tracers, high-level summary views such as LTTngTop, graphical analysis tools such as the Eclipse Linux Tools LTTng plugin, can be used to solve hard software problems. Target audience: anyone interested in understanding performance issues and developing on multi-core systems.

August 30

10:25 – 11:10 – Filesystem and Storage Performance by Chris Mason, Fusion-IO

Abstract: This talk will dive into storage and filesystem performance tuning. I’ll cover ways to find bottlenecks in the IO subsystems under a variety of workloads. Different benchmarking programs will be demonstrated along with ways to interpret the results.

10:25 – 12:05 – Image Processing on the Pandaboard using OpenCV and Kinect, Part I & II by Jayneil Dalal, Vanderbilt University

Abstract: Nowadays, there are tons of interesting, mind blowing projects based on computer vision, Kinect etc. But the problem is that all of them are done on a computer which is not a portable system! So, commercializing such a project will be very difficult. In this talk, I will cover how to do image processing using the world’s most popular computer vision library, OpenCV on a highly portable ARM based development board called the Pandaboard. Then I will cover how to use the Microsoft Kinect with Pandaboard for advanced image processing related tasks. Almost all the technologies I will be using are open source.

13:30 – 14:15 – Design Challenges & Future of the Linux Wireless Stack by Johannes Berg, Intel

Abstract: Like any common code, the wireless stack needs to work with a lot of very different devices from different vendors. It hasn’t always done so very well with some drivers even having to work around some aspects of the stack. I’ll use a few recent examples to explain some of the differences between devices, the resulting challenges and changes but also to show the high level of cooperation between different vendors required to reach a common implementation. I’ll also talk about how we achieve that cooperation today and what I hope can be improved in the future.

14:25 – 15:10 – Open Hardware Tools: An Open Revolution by David Anders, Texas Instruments

Abstract: The emergence of the “Maker” community in the last few years has sparked a technology revolution, fueled by the open sharing of information within the fields of open hardware design and debugging tools. Ubiquitous, powerful, and low-cost micro-controllers have enabled a new breed of capable yet affordable logic analyzers and oscilloscopes. Not only are these types of tools now cost effective, but their creation provides great examples of how the open source model has the ability to positively impact a wide range of fields outside of the realm of software development. Most Linux developers at some point will have the desire to work with or debug electronic systems and devices. This presentation is intended to provide some experience with tools and projects that are open, or open friendly, for designing and debugging electronics projects.

14:25 – 15:10 – Linux on AArch64, the 64-bit ARM Architecture by Catalin Marinas, ARM Ltd.

Abstract: This presentation details the Linux kernel implementation on the new AArch64 architecture using the new instruction set, exception and memory models. The presentation will highlight the main changes from previous versions of the ARM architecture and corresponding Linux kernel support. The presentation is aimed at Linux kernel developers and system programmers with an interest in the 64-bit ARM architecture. Some prior knowledge of Linux kernel architecture porting is assumed and general information about exception handling and MMU functionality will help. This session is important for people planning to work on AArch64 platforms.

August 31

11:00 – 11:45 – Yocto Project Overview and Update by David Stewart, Intel Corporation

Abstract: The Yocto Project is a joint project to unify the world’s efforts around embedded Linux and to make Linux the best choice for embedded designs. The Yocto Project is an open source starting point for embedded Linux development which contains tools, templates, methods and actual working code to get started with an embedded device project. In addition, the Yocto Project includes Eclipse plug-ins to assist the developer. This talk gives a walk-through of the key parts of the Yocto Project for developing embedded Linux projects. In addition, features will be described from the latest release of the Yocto Project, v1.2. The talk will include demos of some of the key new features such as the Build Appliance and Hob. At the end of the talk, developers should be able to start their own embedded project using the Yocto Project and use it for developing the next great embedded device.

11:00 – 12:40 – Editing with vi: Fundamentals, Part I & II by Aleksey Tsalolikhin, Vertical Sysadmin, Inc.

Abstract: Most people use about 10% of vi’s capabilities. Learn the other 90% and increase your speed and enjoyment in text editing. The course covers the history, background and design principles of vi; ALL the vi movement commands; many text alteration commands; and the vi command language syntax. Attendees must bring a laptop with “vi” on it for in-class exercises. No prior experience is required, but 20 year veterans of vi have come out raving how much they learned. vi is the usual editor on Linux systems, and you can save a lot of time by learning to use more of its core features.

11:50 – 12:40 – Linux in a UEFI Secure Boot World by Matthew Garrett, Red Hat

Abstract: The UEFI Secure Boot specification describes a mechanism for restricting the software a machine will boot to appropriately signed binaries. The Windows 8 hardware certification program requires that vendors implement and enable this feature by default. Taken at face value, this locks Linux out of the market. Thankfully, there are things we can do.
This presentation will cover the Secure Boot approaches available to the Linux community and describe the benefits and shortcomings. It will be relevant to admins (who need to know how to configure it) and developers (who need to know how it will affect their software), as well as the users who just want to know how their machines will be booting.

11:50 – 12:40 – Yocto Project & OpenEmbedded Community BoF by Jeff Osier-Mixon, Intel Corporation

Abstract: This BoF is an opportunity for LinuxCon attendees to meet and converse with developers working on the Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded. All are welcome, from newcomers to experienced developers with problems that need to be solved.

14:10 – 14:55 – Editing with vi: Advanced Topics, Part I & II by Aleksey Tsaloikhin, Vertical Sysadmin, Inc.

Abstract: This course builds upon the “Editing with vi: Fundamentals” course mentionned above, and covers more text alteration commands, indenting code/config blocks, editing multiple files simultaneously, copying between multiple files, saving partial files, using buffers and macros, powerful ed commands, and searching code. Anybody who uses vi would benefit from taking this class.

15:05 -15:50 – Linux in Space by Jim Gruen, SpaceX

Abstract: SpaceX is committed to providing the safest, most reliable and economical access to space. During this talk, we will discuss how Linux supports a fast-moving space startup company, including running the spacecraft itself.

Those are just a few choices among over 80 sessions. You can check the full schedule to find out which sessions suit you best.

You can register to LinuxCon 2012 and CloudOpen 2012 online.

2012 Registration Rates:

US$400 through April 29 (Early Bird)
US$500 April 30th through July 28th (Standard)
US$600 thereafter (Late)
Student Registration is $100.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.