The Linux kernel development is a prominent example of software
development at large scale, i.e., a large code base, a large number of
individual contributors, a large organisational structure for
integrating changes and a public code review activity open to all
peers and stakeholders.

This review process is executed on public and archived mailing lists;
these provide rich data sources of the kernel code review, allow
collecting large amounts of data, and assessing the review activity
for the last few years of development until now.

Başak Erdamar is going to present tools and methods:

- to understand some very basics of the documented kernel organization
(MAINTAINERS)
- to understand the integration process among kernel maintainers
(gitdm and her extensions)
- to understand off-list patches (pasta off-list analysis and her extensions)

We hope to give some insights to useful tools to understand the actual
kernel development, not just in theory, but on the basis of what we
discover in practice and at scale backed by actual data.

Critical participants needed for discussion: none [we certainly like
to see Kate Stewart, Jonathan Corbet, Daniel German, Ralf Ramsauer,
Pia Eichinger, Wolfgang Mauerer, Daniel Lohmann, Nicholas McGuire and
many other experts in the field of empirical software engineering of
the Linux kernel]

Estimated time for session: If only presentation, 30 minutes;
otherwise, 60 minutes for extended presentation (45 minutes) and a
wider discussion.

Thanks, Başak, for this proposal!


Lukas