Siyah Kernel’s Developer, Gokhanmoral, Interview

Siyahkernel is one of the best known kernels on the Samsung Galaxy S2, and recently on the Galaxy S3. The host of features this kernel provide makes it a popular choice among newbies and experienced Android users.

What I have come to love about Siyah on my Galaxy S2 is the host of features that can be accessed through the ExTweaks App. Whether you want to improve performance, battery life, enable BLN (back light notification), adjust screen settings, or dual boot between two ROMs  – it can all be done with this kernel.

I have been fortunate to ask the developer of this popular Android kernel a few questions. This is what Gokhanmoral had to say.

Where are you from?
I’m from Turkey, living in Ankara, the capital.

How old are you?
37. Quite old compared to other devs on the XDA board but it has some advantages. I am not seeking for trouble as I had enough in my life already 

When did you start putting out your first kernel?
If you mean Android kernel, about 10 months ago…

How did you get interested in building kernels?
I was making some modifications for myself and then I started to share them. It still did not change. I am sharing what I use for myself.

Do you develop your kernel on your own or in a team?
On my own.. I am not a member of a team or a group.

What type of feedback did you get when you made your first kernel?
First it was created in the Android Development section (not in the Original Android Development section) as it didn’t feel like it deserved the “original” title, and only when I felt like it deserved to be in Original section I asked the mods to move it there.
People liked the kernel at first, and some of the changes were my “dreams”, such as supporting both Cyanogenmod and Samsung ROM’s with a single kernel image, and dual-booting, and breathing effect, and many others. People liked some of them, and some people did not like the number of options available in the kernel.
I received both positive and negative feedback from users. As they are human the feedback is sometimes far from objective.

What is your goal or idea with Siyah Kernel? What do you aim to achieve with it?
I have no goal in kernel development. 
I was not trying to achieve anything and I still do not. I believe in open source and sharing. Siyahkernel is not my kernel, it is owned by the community, and it is more Linus’s work than mine. Most of the developers forget the fact that their changes are so little compared to what is already in there.

I wasn’t even thinking about being a recognized developer and was really happy being a senior member on XDA.  Then, one day I noticed that the admins selected me as an elite recognized developer. It was very surprising and I must say that it felt good  but even if I wasn’t selected as one SiyahKernel would have the same features and strategy.
So, I make some changes and share and people like it. They thank me and that’s all that matters.

What do you think makes Siyahkernel so popular?
Honesty.. the kernel always has bugs. Sometimes very serious bugs, sometimes tiny, but I never tried to hide anything and never lied.
I do not have a problem with saying “I don’t know” and most people like that.
Of course, the existing features are also the reason for the popularity, but there are other kernels which have the same features.

Which ROM do you use as a daily driver?
It changes a lot. I support most of them and therefore I have to change ROM’s sometimes daily to make some tests.

What is your favourite launcher?
Nova. but it doesn’t mean that it is the best one. I liked it, I am used to it and it fulfills my needs.
You are currently developing for both the S2 and S3. Do you have plans to work on any other phones?
No. I am sharing something that I do for myself. Maybe I can develop some apps that supports other phones but I won’t develop kernels for phones that I don’t have, unless they are very similar (like ones I did for S2).

What will your next phone be?
I don’t know, but I like Samsung hardware and quality. Unless they make a big mistake in the future I will try to follow their products.

What are your biggest plans for the future of your kernel (features etc. you want to include)?
Dualbooting for S3. It may sound as if it is not a big plan as I have already done it in S2, but I want to make it in a proper way for S3.

When will you be happy with the kernel for the S2 (and stop improving on it)?
I am already happy with the current one and I don’t add too much fancy experimental features as it is used by my wife and I want to have a happy marriage 

How do you feel about the future of Android in relation to active development and market share?
I won’t say that “Android is the future”. I am more a user than a developer for the Android world. Personally, I don’t like to be limited in any way and Android gives me that freedom.
There may be people who prefer to spend less time on something and therefore choose other platforms.
As long as we have the freedom of choice there will be more than one option and some of them will be popular as they are today.

Are there any other developers or notable people to whom you are especially grateful of?
Lots.. I don’t want to name them all as I am afraid of missing one or two…

Are you doing some kind of development as your full time job, or is there something else that you enjoy?
I am an embedded systems developer in my daily job.

Do you have an opinion on whether or not we will get Jelly Bean Android on the Samsung Galaxy S2?
I think (and hope) that Teamhacksung will make a port when they finish with the initial port for S3. They are just great developers!

Do you have any other projects readers might be interested in?
Recently I decided to make some audio enhancements for S2 and S3 (apps, not just kernel side) and those will provide some free alternatives to users.
As for my first project I developed Fastdormancy Toggle app for the Galaxy S3 (should also work on other Galaxy variants) and next was STweaks, a configurator for my kernel and some others which use /res/uci.sh interface that me and Xan developed together.
Next app will be a Voodoo Louder alternative for galaxys2

Have you hade any experiences with other platforms like Windows Mobile or iOS, and how do you think development of Android in the future compares to those platforms?
I have quite a lot of windows mobile and .NET experience but no iOS experience yet. To me, Windows is so slow and Apple is so close.
I am not sure about Windows Mobile but I am sure Apple will be a notable competitor for quite some time for Android.

Do you maintain an active blog or social network (like G+, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) where readers can follow you?
No. I just use XDA forums to announce my kernels. but I have a twitter account (gokhanmoral), facebook (gokhan.moral) and google+ (gokhan.moral) but I do not use them actively. I recently used twitter for a discussion and maybe I will continue to use it for some minor announcements…

Where can users download your kernel and discuss it on XDA?
I have two active threads: one in Original Development section in i9300 and one in Original Development section of i9100 on XDA.
There are some general discussion threads in other sections which I ask users to chat and talk about battery life and non-development related issues.
I also read them, but not as frequently.

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I’d like to thank Gokhanmoral for answering these questions and I hope it familiarizes more people with his excellent work on Siyahkernel.

You can visit the following related links:

• Download latest Siyah Kernel for Gokhanmoral’s site and get changelog
• Siyah Kernel for Galaxy S3 development discussion
• Siyah Kernel for Galaxy S2 development discussion
• Unofficial discussion of Siyah Kernel – Question and Answers
• How to dual boot XDA thread
• How to dual boot stock Samsung and a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod

Here is Gokhanmoral’s current setup as per his signature on XDA forums:

• Device: Samsung Galaxy S3
• Kernel: SiyahKernel-s3 (latest beta) w/
• CPU: 100-1200MHz, Pegasusq, 18-steps, -100mV for all steps
• GPU: 160-266-350-440MHz with -50mV at each step. thresholds: 70-50 90-70 90-80 staycounts: 0-0-0-1
• I/O scheduler: deadline
• CFS-defaults: linuxkernel
• Cpu Idle Mode: Idle+LPA
• Max-cpu-lock: quad-core mode or single-core mode (rarely when I need battery life)
• AC Charge: 1200mA, USB Charge: 800mA
• Insecure adbd

Please give feedback via the comments!