Google Shifting To “Upstream First” Linux Kernel Approach For Android – Guide
Google is moving to a new Android Generic Kernel Image (GKI) as the basis for all of its product kernels to further reduce fragmentation.
Google’s Todd Kjos spoke today at the Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC2021) about his generic kernel imaging initiative. With Android 12 and their GKI image based on Linux 5.10, they have further reduced fragmentation to the point of being “almost eliminated.” With Android 12 GKI, most of the vendor / OEM kernel features have now been ported to the Linux kernel, isolated to vendor modules / hooks, or merged into Android Common Kernel. ..
The GKI project is making good progress, and vendors are adapting to the new approach. However, the most exciting thing is the prospect of 2023 to 2024 to further reduce technical debt.
This would allow Android developers to work on new features for the Linux kernel, and then release them as part of a new update to the Android OS. This would ensure that the code is always available to users, and that it is not blocked by upstream projects who want their own code first.
Google is pledging to upstream all patches outside of the Android tree into its common kernels, in an effort to make the software more stable and bug-free.
If they can commit to upstream first of the new kernel features, it will be wonderful, but we’ll see what happens in the next few years.
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Final note
Google is moving to a “upstream first” Linux kernel approach for Android, which will help improve performance and security. If you have any questions about this article, or if you want to share it with your friends, please feel free to do so.
