Welcome! The following are project topics that AOSC provides for you to work on. You could pick one and contact the corresponding leader, or you may discuss your interested topic with us in either our IRC channel, Telegram group, Discord server, or mailing list.

Please first read the Students' Guide.

Implementation of DeployKit

DeployKit is the proposed installer for AOSC OS. The program should have two operating modes:

1. Helping the user to install AOSC OS as an installer;
2. Providing preventive back-up and disaster recovery functionalities;

At present, a very basic TUI interface has been implemented using Cursive and the Rust Programming Language. However, a GUI interface is still yet to be implemented. The goal of this project is to provide an installer implementation that follows the AOSC OS Installation Guide and automates all installation steps.

• Difficulty: Medium
• Mentor: Zixing Liu
• Mentor Contact: liushuyu@aosc.io
• Project Requirements:
  • Implement a GUI interface for DeployKit.
  • Improve error handling and overall logic of the installer backend.
  • Provide necessary visual feedback in the UI (e.g. progress indications).
• Technical Requirements:
  • Understanding of basic Linux commands.
  • Familiarity with Rust or other system programming languages such as C/C++.
  • Familiarity with Rust FFI mechanisms and unsafe handling.
  • Familiarity with GObject, Glib, and GTK programming (Note: GTK/GLib API documentation is at times inconsistent, students with prior knowledge with GTK 3 API is preferred).
  • Note: This project assumes that the prospective student is already proficient with the first three "Technical Requirements" by the time of application.
• Related Repositories:
  • Backend and TUI: https://github.com/AOSC-Dev/aoscdk-rs
  • DeployKit reference GUI designs: https://github.com/AOSC-Dev/DeployKit
• Related Resources:
  • GTK 3 Rust bindings: https://lib.rs/crates/gtk/ Official website and tutorials: https://gtk-rs.org/
  • GTK 3 C API Documentation: https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/
  • Gettext Rust bindings: https://lib.rs/crates/gettext-rs/
  • Gettext C API Documentation: https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/
  • The Rustonomicon (a book explaining how to handle unsafe): https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/
• License: MIT

Allwinner RISC-V chip Mainline Development

Allwinner will soon release an SoC based on the XuanTie C906 RISC-V core. This project will focus on mainlining the bootloader (tentatively U-Boot, may switch according to student interest) and Linux Kernel for this chip. The chip will be released in late April, with the official development board, SDK and documentation to follow. A lot of references to the SDK code will be needed for the development of this project.

• Difficulty: High
• Mentor: Xingda "Icenowy" Zheng
• Mentor contact: icenowy@aosc.io
• Project Requirements:
  • Basic bootloader functions, bootable Linux Kernel, and upstreaming all relevant code changes.
  • Booting currently available Linux distributions from the MMC and input/output over the serial connection.
  • If time allows, implement drivers for various peripherals.
• Technical Requirements:
  • Build cross-compilation toolchains (or use off-the-shelf tools) and the Linux Kernel.
  • Using Git for code maintenance (commit, rebase, etc.).
  • Writing C code (implementing drivers for new devices while referencing existing Kernel code).
  • Writing commit messages, accepting patch reviews on mailing lists, facing the wrath of Linus Torvalds or other upstream maintainers if necessary.
  • Understanding the RISC-V instruction set (being able to read assembly code output by GCC).
• Related Repositories:
  • https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot
  • https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
• License: Varies based on different upstream projects, mainly GPL; dual licensing in some cases (e.g. GPL + other licenses with device tree sources or bindings).