Follow up to the initial poll for interest on an ARM Boot Architecture working group (You can read the initial posting below for those people I've just added to the to: list).

Linaro has graciously offered to host a mailing list and provide a conference bridge for meetings. You can subscribe to the mailing list here:

http://lists.linaro.org/mailman/listinfo/boot-architecture

I'm ready to kick off the first phase of the working group, which is to start collecting requirements and to define the boot use-cases that the working group will focus on solving (for example, one use-case is supporting a generic ARM distro on netbooks and tablets). There is a start to capturing requirements on the wiki page[1] and some discussion on the associated talk page[2].

[1] http://devicetree.org/Boot_Architecture [2] http://devicetree.org/Talk:Boot_Architecture

I propose having a kick-off conference call in about 2 weeks (week of September 13th). Goal of the first call will be settle on a first-draft for the requirements, and to figure out if there are additional people or companies that we should be soliciting feedback from. Then we can begin drafting the interface and recommended practices document.

If you're interested in being in on the call, let me know and I'll send you an invite and if you've got a preference on a day of the week. Regardless of the day, It will probably have to be at about 9:00MDT/16:00GMT to handle everyone's timezones.

Cheers, g.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Grant Likely grant.likely@secretlab.ca Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:31 PM Subject: ARM Boot Architecture working group idea

Following up on a discussion from UDS-M in Brussels this year, the idea was raised to put together a working group to define a recommended firmware architecture for ARM systems.  The goal being to have something usable by both the hardware and operating system vendors (notably Android and Linaro) to reduce the cost associated with board ports, and to have a common method for operating system installation across a wide range of devices.

The goal of this working group would be to produce a specification including the following 3 things: 1) A set of requirements that meets the needs of hardware vendors, operating systems vendors, and software engineers 2) A recommended architecture for boot firmware. 3) A reference design implementing the first two items in a form usable by hardware vendors.

I'm in the early planning stages now, and I'm looking for volunteers and interested parties to join the working group.  To get things rolling, I've set up a wiki page[1] with a very early draft of requirements which captures some of the issues brought up at UDS-M.

[1] http://devicetree.org/Boot_Architecture

I've not yet set up any kind of charter or procedures for the working group.  Nor have I done an exhaustive search for people who should be involved, so if there is anybody you can think of who I should contact, then please let me know.

If you (or your company) is interested and would like to be involved, then please let me know.  Once we've got a few people to kick things off, I'll set up a mailing list, try to pull together something about how this working group will be organized, and probably make an lwn or linux-embedded announcement.

Cheers, g.

-- Grant Likely, B.Sc., P.Eng. Secret Lab Technologies Ltd.