LLVMLinux: Compiling the Linux Kernel with LLVM
summary
Claims that LLVM/Clang can build the Linux kernel and demonstrates an automated framework that downloads sources, applies patches, builds compilers and kernels, and runs tests in QEMU. Current status: tip Clang plus recent LLVM already supports ARM and x86 mainline enough to boot Nexus 7 and many desktops, with full 64‑bit type handling on 32‑bit ARM landed; remaining blockers are integrated assembler quirks, immature linkers, dropped init/exit attributes and a missing builtin constant_p, and the static analyzer fails on kernel builds. CI runs via buildbot continuous integration and testing finds regressions early.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Introduction to LLVM/Clang
- 1:34Why Use Clang?
- 4:26Licensing and Community
- 5:57GCC Competition and Upstream
- 8:35Error Reporting Improvements
- 10:17Static Analysis and Plugins
- 12:24Automated Code Fixing
- 14:08Industry Adoption
- 16:43The LLVM Linux Project
- 19:12Automated Build Framework
- 22:25Supported Targets
- 24:16Continuous Integration
- 26:05GCCisms in Kernel Code
- 29:32Compiler Incompatibilities
- 32:26Overcoming Technical Hurdles
- 37:10Current Project Status
- 40:29Remaining Work
- 41:42How to Contribute
