[nostrademons]

If you want to contribute to the Linux kernel, you may want to start here:

http://kernelnewbies.org/

(Found via Google search on [linux kernel development].)

Start with a small project, maybe just learning how to compile and install your own custom kernel. Then go look for bugs that other people would like fixed but don't have time to fix, and see if you can fix them. There're a bunch of guidelines (that I'm not too familiar with...I don't personally do kernel hacking) to getting your patch accepted, but I think there's pretty substantive mentoring available for new developers. Good luck.