[[!template id=project

title="Build the kernel as PIE"

contact="""
[tech-kern](mailto:tech-kern@NetBSD.org)
"""

category="kernel"
difficulty="medium"
done_by="Maxime Villard"

description="""
Add a toolchain infrastructure that allows the kernel to be compiled as
Position Independent Executable (PIE). Typically, having the kernel compiled
as a kernel module itself - using the already-existing infrastructure - would
be a good start. Then, some choices and proposals can be made to optimize
performance of the kernel binary at the instruction level.

Deliverables:

* A set of Makefile changes that allow to build a PIE kernel at least on amd64
  and i386.
* If possible, an evaluation of the performance cost.

It may be a little difficult to test the implementation, because the kernel
won't boot. But as long as the kernel ELF binary is structurally correct it's
fine.
"""

]]