Need help to get started

[Star Liu]

Greetings!

I'm a newbie in the free software world(I was a web developer on the
microsoft .net framework for the past 4 years), though I have some knowledge
about programming, I'm not familiar with the develop environment of free
software. I have always been willing to develop free softwares, and I hope I
can join the coreboot development as my start.
Could you give me some suggestions so that I can get into the coreboot
development? Here is some introduction to my current skills.

1. I'm very interested in UEFI/BIOS development.
 2. Familiar with <Intel(R) 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's
Manuals> http://www.intel.com/products/processor/manuals/, the description
of Intel(R) 64 and IA-32 Architectures.
3. Program in x86_64 Assembly, C, C++ and C# Language.
4. Use Debian GNU/Linux Lenny AMD64 as my personal PC operating system.

Thank you!

[Peter Stuge]

Hello!

On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 06:13:11PM +0800, Star Liu wrote:
> I'm a newbie in the free software world(I was a web developer on
> the microsoft .net framework for the past 4 years), though I have
> some knowledge about programming, I'm not familiar with the develop
> environment of free software.

The tools we use are GCC, GNU binutils and GNU make. These are
"low-level" tools: compiler, linker, and build scripts, but they are
the least common denominator. Individual developers are free to
choose whatever IDE they prefer, as long as the base tools are the
same.

That said, coreboot v2 does not fit very well into any IDE because it
uses a special-purpose utility that was developed within the project
as part of the build process. This has been removed in v3.
> I have always been willing to develop free softwares, and I hope I
> can join the coreboot development as my start.

Certainly. You are very welcome!
> Could you give me some suggestions so that I can get into the
> coreboot development?

Find a mainboard that is supported in coreboot, and pick a known
problem that you would like to work on fixing.

Note that coreboot also supports the QEMU mainboard, so you can get
away with a pure free software solution if you do not have easy
access to hardware. Also, QEMU is much easier to restore than a flash
chip that does not boot the system, as will undoubtedly happen
sometime while working on coreboot.
> Here is some introduction to my current skills.
> I'm very interested in UEFI/BIOS development.
> Familiar with <Intel(R) 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
> Developer's Manuals>, the description of Intel(R) 64 and IA-32
> Architectures.
> Program in x86_64 Assembly, C, C++ and C# Language.
> Use Debian GNU/Linux Lenny AMD64 as my personal PC operating
> system.

There is only a little assembly in coreboot, the majority of the
project is written in C. The assemly code deals with some well-known
issues (switching between real mode and protected mode) and for v3
one major new thing which is setting up Cache-as-RAM on each
supported CPU.

I recommend reading the FAQ on the project wiki:
http://coreboot.org/FAQ

Even though it is a little outdated in places, it still contains a
great deal of useful information. When you are ready to send patches
to the project, please have a look at:
http://coreboot.org/Development_Guidelines

Best regards

//Peter

[Star Liu]

Thank you very much, I think the FAQ is what I need, I will read it.....

On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 8:41 PM, Peter Stuge  wrote:
> Hello!
>
> On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 06:13:11PM +0800, Star Liu wrote:
> > I'm a newbie in the free software world(I was a web developer on
> > the microsoft .net framework for the past 4 years), though I have
> > some knowledge about programming, I'm not familiar with the develop
> > environment of free software.
>
> The tools we use are GCC, GNU binutils and GNU make. These are
> "low-level" tools: compiler, linker, and build scripts, but they are
> the least common denominator. Individual developers are free to
> choose whatever IDE they prefer, as long as the base tools are the
> same.
>
> That said, coreboot v2 does not fit very well into any IDE because it
> uses a special-purpose utility that was developed within the project
> as part of the build process. This has been removed in v3.
> > I have always been willing to develop free softwares, and I hope I
> > can join the coreboot development as my start.
>
> Certainly. You are very welcome!
> > Could you give me some suggestions so that I can get into the
> > coreboot development?
>
> Find a mainboard that is supported in coreboot, and pick a known
> problem that you would like to work on fixing.
>
> Note that coreboot also supports the QEMU mainboard, so you can get
> away with a pure free software solution if you do not have easy
> access to hardware. Also, QEMU is much easier to restore than a flash
> chip that does not boot the system, as will undoubtedly happen
> sometime while working on coreboot.
> > Here is some introduction to my current skills.
> > I'm very interested in UEFI/BIOS development.
> > Familiar with <Intel(R) 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
> > Developer's Manuals>, the description of Intel(R) 64 and IA-32
> > Architectures.
> > Program in x86_64 Assembly, C, C++ and C# Language.
> > Use Debian GNU/Linux Lenny AMD64 as my personal PC operating
> > system.
>
> There is only a little assembly in coreboot, the majority of the
> project is written in C. The assemly code deals with some well-known
> issues (switching between real mode and protected mode) and for v3
> one major new thing which is setting up Cache-as-RAM on each
> supported CPU.
>
> I recommend reading the FAQ on the project wiki:
> http://coreboot.org/FAQ
>
> Even though it is a little outdated in places, it still contains a
> great deal of useful information. When you are ready to send patches
> to the project, please have a look at:
> http://coreboot.org/Development_Guidelines
>
> Best regards
>
> //Peter