GNU / Buildroot Tool Chain

• support for Execute in Place ("XIP") for nommu flavor (needs completely position independent code ("PIC") support by the Compiler)
  

Kernel Arch

• Every pieces of nios2 code should be reviewed and compared again those of m68knommu or other arch.
  Files to be revised:
  • file1...
    
  • file2...
    
• Coding style clean up.
• Optional MPU support.
• Optional "full" Linux with MMU
• Would providing architecture specific "atomic" code instead of using the code in "asm-general be beneficial ? 
• Is there a way to support hardware for some atomic instructions for Kernel mutex/spinlioc and FUTEX ? (see multi-threading)
  

Kernel Drivers

• All drivers should use platform driver model.
  Drivers to be revised:
  
  • driver1...
    
  • driver2...
• Opencore I2C driver,   there is the driver in mainline kernel, but we need platform data and testing.
  === done, also all drivers are in new driver form mainline ===
  
• SPI driver, the old one is useless. The new one should be developed.
• DMA interface driver, the old one is useless.
• NEEK LCD framebuffer
• NEEK touch screen driver
• "programmable timer" driver for "tickless Linux" (the appropriate hardware needs to designed, too)
• ioremap as a macro to inline it if nommu
  

File Systems

• cifs (Samba) client (hangs)
  

Make / Configuration System

• Add NEEK to board selection
  === done ===
  
• When XIP is available move as many apps as possible into busybox by default (init, shell, ...)
• When XIP is available use a better shell than sash by default
• Makefile glitch: 10 times "Making symlinks in include/". Once seems to be enough.
• Better integration of the definition of the pof file to be used
  

User Space Libs and Apps

• Compiling error when gdb-server is activate
  === gdbserver is not enabled as default any more ===
  
• More "user friendly" FTP server by enabling ls in busybox on default and adding password for root (and a user uclinux) in passwd
• Start inetd and boa in rc on default (no harm done, if they can't run due to not Ethernet configured)
• "haserl" does not compile (Makefile problem)
  === partly solved ===  (On some systems a dummy file "NEWS" seems to be necessary.)
• "haserl" does not work
  === partly solved ===  (After adding a line syslog("Haserl start") in main() it works due to a miracle. It only works if the syslog daemon is running)
• "haserl" very slow
  === partly solved ===  (by stand alone "echo", see appropriate Wiki page. A real solution would need XIP)
• Support for dynamic linking
  Beside potential space and speed benefits this would solve some queer licensing issues regarding glibc.
  

multi-threading Support

• NPTL
• provide a decent architecture-aware "atomic" code for  FUTX (disble interrupt -> do stuff ->  enable interrupt) instead of using the code in "asm-general". This is a decent way to go if no MPU is used, as di/ei can be done in user land. If with "full" Linux the MPU is activated (and thus di/ei is privilidged and only executable in Kernel space) we would need to have hardware support for some atomic instructions.
  
• at best have Altera add some atomic instructions to the NIOS arch
  

GDB

• remote debugging user space application via  Kernel based GDB stub
  • using a serial link alternatively to Ethernet
    
  • debugging Multi-threaded Applications does not seem to be possible at all (very high priority !)
    
  • integration in NIOS II Studio
    
• debugging the Kernel and Kernel modules
  • integration in NIOS II Studio

Documentation

• "make help" should create a decent output. At least listing the available make targets including the "_only" and "_clean" stuff.
  
• how to modify the various real-time configuration files
  • RC (easy: /vendor)
    
  • passwd (easy: /vendor)
  • initd.conf
  • services
  • stuff in vendors/Altera/nios2nommu/romfs_list
  • ...
    
• inittab / rc
  === see appropriate Wiki page ===
  
• how to save the Kernel and application/library configuration in a way that it survives a "git checkout -f" or "git clean -d" or "make real_clean"
  
• ...
  

Politics

• Have Altera and/or SLS mirror (or run) the GIT server (with HTTP support)
  
• Communicate with SLS about company <-> community collaboration and preserving a common code base
• Suggest NIOS arch for inclusion into the main line Kernel
  
• Method to assign to-do issues to programmers and to track progress
• A great deal of the necessary documentation is not specific to the NIOS arch. There should be a central uCLinux-dist documentation Wiki for that.