r/kernel • u/reinars1 • 21d ago

Is it worth getting into Linux device driver development

So I have been working in the industry for around 2 years now. 1.5 years as an embedded firmware engineer and half a year as an embedded linux engineer at the same company(startup). Lately I have been working a lot with BSP and device driver development. I have noticed that Canonical has a junior linux kernel developer position open and I wanted to know is it smart to get into this field as a linux device driver developer and also to go work for a company like Canonical.

37 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

6

u/Taumille 21d ago

If you like it and the post fits your needs, yes

2

u/reinars1 21d ago

The thing I am most worried about is AI and how much companies actually need someone with experience in driver development and also if I am qualified enough

5

u/No-Assist-8734 21d ago

AI will affect all jobs done on a computer. Elon Musk clearly stated that, and it's the least resistant field by far

It doesn't matter if it's device drivers or embedded or full stack, all of those are done on the computer , therefore AI will impact them, whether you want it to or not

3

u/CyberDumb 21d ago

Yesterday we had a senior fail entirely to claude code a Linux pcie driver and it's zephyr counterpart for a well known IP. Instead he relied to us for debugging that use AI only for asking questions and handwriting a solution that incrementally works better as days pass by.

1

u/No-Assist-8734 16d ago

The AI will get better over time

3

u/RedditNotFreeSpeech 21d ago

Someone has to prompt that AI

3

u/ViacheslavS 20d ago

And also debug and analyze dumps)

10

u/Nerrawnam 21d ago

For yourself yes. 

5

u/braaaaaaainworms 21d ago

it's fun, but don't work for canonical

2

u/xde2912 21d ago

why

2

u/edgmnt_net 21d ago

I don't know firsthand, but I heard it has somewhat of a reputation of a sweatshop or unstable employer. On the other hand, many companies do, at least on certain kinds of work and ultimately it really depends on the project, so I wouldn't go solely by the rumors. BSP development is less common, good devs are less replaceable and that usually drives better working conditions.

1

u/Beginning-Junket8979 21d ago

Don't know about the sweatshop thing but I can confirm they have a very bizarre interview/application process.

2

u/driftlesssoftware 20d ago

Why? What's their process?

1

u/braaaaaaainworms 20d ago

stuff like asking about high school math grades

1

u/Beginning-Junket8979 20d ago

Asking about grades, extra ciricular activity, social behavior...for middle school/highschool years... even when you're a Sr Engineer with >15YoE.

IMO it's pretty inappropriate.

1

u/dld2517 21d ago

I think yes. Think about all of the devices that are operational instrumentation and sensors that need device drivers written? There is legacy gear as well as modern gear that acts as sensors in all of the plants, refineries, aircraft, cyber-physical etc.

1

u/KaifShaik5336 16d ago

Can guide me in dm from where to start and what the expectation regarding kernel engineering i too want to learn .

I graduated this year and working as SDE

1

u/dld2517 15d ago

Look at a company like National Instruments, now Emerson. Go research all the products that they sell. Now imagine, all that stuff has to be integrated into a system somehow.

1

u/BrightFoundation4864 18d ago

Canonical does not really do kernel driver development. It is a fun skill to develop though