Career Transition: From Backend Engineer to Kernel Developer

[Harin Ramesh]

Hi all,

I’m currently working as a Backend Engineer with 6 years of experience. I have a strong interest in Linux kernel development and would like to explore a transition into this area.

I’m curious about:

1. Whether such a transition is feasible for someone coming from a backend dev background.

2. How to approach learning kernel development effectively, especially as a self-taught journey or through contributions.

3. Tips on how to get a job in kernel development or open-source kernel contributions.

Any guidance, resources, or personal experiences would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[Praveen Kumar]

Hi Harin,

Great to hear that you are interested and want to evangelize into the kernel domain.

Some of the already known pointers and guidance is at https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/howto.html

And, there are LF mentorship programs (https://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/mentorship-programs/) or Outreachy in which you can enroll and seek mentorship from some of the maintainers and contribute.

Next, my 2 cents and the learning flywheel which I remember following; and still continue doing

1. Start with the operating system fundamentals. I would recommend Linux Kernel Programming by Robert Love; IMHO this provides the right order of topics /concepts to follow. But, there are many books available now, which may provide better and recent kernel insights (like https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/linux-kernel-programming/9781789953435/). However, for fundamentals, I still refer to Understanding Linux Kernel 3rd Edition now and then.
2. Connect with the kernel code and start reading code for each topic read [ code is the knowledge base and the only source of truth :-) ]
3. Experiment - Launch vms, build the kernel, modify, install, fail, debug, learn.
4. Ask your doubts in kernelnewbies or kernel-meetup forums; connect with the community and identify problems to invest in and be persistent.
5. Repeat till you have a fair understanding of key fundamentals.

During the above cycle, identify the domain which you like the most and would like to invest in; Why ? The kernel is huge, so it's not practical to build expertise in all the modules; I recommend focusing on 1 or max 2 kernel components to begin with.

Then repeat the similar flywheel following the specific module's mailing thread(https://www.kernel.org/lists-linux-dev.html), follow discussion, testing the patches, collaborate with the developers & maintainers, add documentation, review and learn.

There are other innovative ways to learn and contribute to the Linux kernel, and would be happy to hear from other kernel developers and maintainers on their journey and recommendations to be successful as a Linux kernel developer.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Praveen Kumar.

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[Tawaliou ALAO]

Thank you so much. Really happy to read your response Mr Praveen.
I'm like Harin: backend developer but love system programming and linux kernel. So I'm trying to get into the linux kernel. 

Thank you for the advice and good luck to Harin, hope we'll make it.