open-iscsi seems to require 2.6.x kernels and doesn't even compile with the newer (3.x) kernels, specifically 3.8.0 kernel.
Is it supposed to work with newer kernels?
Please see this: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/open-iscsi/_f4e13cIyNg
The kernel code in the open-iscsi dir only is for really old kernels. Newer kernels have proper open-iscsi kernel support and you should use those modules that come with your kernel/distro.
Do the newer kernels already have the support added to them?
My own end goal is to do a cross-compile to MIPS to be run on a 3.x kernel.
What are the iSCSI initiator software that are available to be used with newer linux kernels ?
Yes, linux kernel has open-iscsi support built into it now. When building the latest kernel, configure support for open-iscsi and you should have the module built after a successful build of the kernel.