GSoC 2026: Test Linux emulation (350h)

[schphe <schphe%pm.me@localhost>]

Hello,

My name is Emin Arican, and I'm a Computer Science student at the University of Illinois Chicago.
I'm interested in the "Test Linux emulation" project for GSoC 2026, mentored by Stephen Borrill.

I have hands-on experience with low-level systems programming and cross-platform compatibility work. I've previously ported SailfishOS to my phone via the HAL adaptation guide and attempted a NixOS Mobile port, both involved working with compatibility/translation layers between different OS interfaces, which is probably somewhat relevant to compat_linux.

I've also contributed patches to some opensource projects such as NixOS Apple Silicon (fixed GPU driver crash by introducing a patch from upstream for Mesa), Libmem (Modernized PTRACE API and improved Android support) and SurrealDB (corrected allocator selection for non-x86_64 platforms to prevent crashes). I'm comfortable working across kernel/userland boundaries and debugging platform-specific issues.

For this project, I've already set up a NetBSD VM and studied the compat_linux subsystem, including the full amd64 syscall table in linux_syscalls.c. I have a clear picture of which syscalls are implemented and which remain unimplemented.

My approach aligns with the project's outlined steps: determine which tests make sense under Linux emulation, compile and run them on NetBSD, build a cross-compilation environment to make the test suite self-hosting, fix emulation issues for tests that fail, and use test results to implement missing syscalls. I plan to use the Linux Test Project as a reference for Linux-specific coverage.

I have submitted my full proposal on the GSoC portal.
I'd welcome any feedback or guidance on the project scope.

GitHub: https://github.com/schphe
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/eminarican

Best regards,
Emin Arican