Commit c607cf0c authored by Stefan Richter's avatar Stefan Richter Committed by Greg Kroah-Hartman

HOWTO: Updates on subsystem trees, patchwork, -next (vs. -mm)

One of the roles which -mm fulfilled some time ago (to offer an
integration testing ground) has been taken over by -next.  This is still
news to Documentation/HOWTO, so mention it there.

Also add a word on how patchwork is used to track patches as they make
their way into subsystem trees.  Remove some arbitrary links to
subsystem repositories; they can all be found in the MAINTAINERS
database.
Acked-by: default avatarRandy Dunlap <rdunlap@xenotime.net>
Signed-off-by: default avatarStefan Richter <stefanr@s5r6.in-berlin.de>
Signed-off-by: default avatarGreg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
parent 9cd43611
......@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ branches. These different branches are:
- main 2.6.x kernel tree
- 2.6.x.y -stable kernel tree
- 2.6.x -git kernel patches
- 2.6.x -mm kernel patches
- subsystem specific kernel trees and patches
- the 2.6.x -next kernel tree for integration tests
2.6.x kernel tree
-----------------
......@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ process is as follows:
- As soon as a new kernel is released a two weeks window is open,
during this period of time maintainers can submit big diffs to
Linus, usually the patches that have already been included in the
-mm kernel for a few weeks. The preferred way to submit big changes
-next kernel for a few weeks. The preferred way to submit big changes
is using git (the kernel's source management tool, more information
can be found at http://git.or.cz/) but plain patches are also just
fine.
......@@ -293,84 +293,43 @@ daily and represent the current state of Linus' tree. They are more
experimental than -rc kernels since they are generated automatically
without even a cursory glance to see if they are sane.
2.6.x -mm kernel patches
------------------------
These are experimental kernel patches released by Andrew Morton. Andrew
takes all of the different subsystem kernel trees and patches and mushes
them together, along with a lot of patches that have been plucked from
the linux-kernel mailing list. This tree serves as a proving ground for
new features and patches. Once a patch has proved its worth in -mm for
a while Andrew or the subsystem maintainer pushes it on to Linus for
inclusion in mainline.
It is heavily encouraged that all new patches get tested in the -mm tree
before they are sent to Linus for inclusion in the main kernel tree. Code
which does not make an appearance in -mm before the opening of the merge
window will prove hard to merge into the mainline.
These kernels are not appropriate for use on systems that are supposed
to be stable and they are more risky to run than any of the other
branches.
If you wish to help out with the kernel development process, please test
and use these kernel releases and provide feedback to the linux-kernel
mailing list if you have any problems, and if everything works properly.
In addition to all the other experimental patches, these kernels usually
also contain any changes in the mainline -git kernels available at the
time of release.
The -mm kernels are not released on a fixed schedule, but usually a few
-mm kernels are released in between each -rc kernel (1 to 3 is common).
Subsystem Specific kernel trees and patches
-------------------------------------------
A number of the different kernel subsystem developers expose their
development trees so that others can see what is happening in the
different areas of the kernel. These trees are pulled into the -mm
kernel releases as described above.
Here is a list of some of the different kernel trees available:
git trees:
- Kbuild development tree, Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/sam/kbuild.git
- ACPI development tree, Len Brown <len.brown@intel.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/lenb/linux-acpi-2.6.git
- Block development tree, Jens Axboe <jens.axboe@oracle.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/axboe/linux-2.6-block.git
- DRM development tree, Dave Airlie <airlied@linux.ie>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/airlied/drm-2.6.git
- ia64 development tree, Tony Luck <tony.luck@intel.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/aegl/linux-2.6.git
- infiniband, Roland Dreier <rolandd@cisco.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/roland/infiniband.git
- libata, Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@pobox.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jgarzik/libata-dev.git
- network drivers, Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@pobox.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jgarzik/netdev-2.6.git
- pcmcia, Dominik Brodowski <linux@dominikbrodowski.net>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/brodo/pcmcia-2.6.git
- SCSI, James Bottomley <James.Bottomley@hansenpartnership.com>
git.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jejb/scsi-misc-2.6.git
- x86, Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/x86/linux-2.6-x86.git
quilt trees:
- USB, Driver Core, and I2C, Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@suse.de>
kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/gregkh/gregkh-2.6/
The maintainers of the various kernel subsystems --- and also many
kernel subsystem developers --- expose their current state of
development in source repositories. That way, others can see what is
happening in the different areas of the kernel. In areas where
development is rapid, a developer may be asked to base his submissions
onto such a subsystem kernel tree so that conflicts between the
submission and other already ongoing work are avoided.
Most of these repositories are git trees, but there are also other SCMs
in use, or patch queues being published as quilt series. Addresses of
these subsystem repositories are listed in the MAINTAINERS file. Many
of them can be browsed at http://git.kernel.org/.
Before a proposed patch is committed to such a subsystem tree, it is
subject to review which primarily happens on mailing lists (see the
respective section below). For several kernel subsystems, this review
process is tracked with the tool patchwork. Patchwork offers a web
interface which shows patch postings, any comments on a patch or
revisions to it, and maintainers can mark patches as under review,
accepted, or rejected. Most of these patchwork sites are listed at
http://patchwork.kernel.org/ or http://patchwork.ozlabs.org/.
2.6.x -next kernel tree for integration tests
---------------------------------------------
Before updates from subsystem trees are merged into the mainline 2.6.x
tree, they need to be integration-tested. For this purpose, a special
testing repository exists into which virtually all subsystem trees are
pulled on an almost daily basis:
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/sfr/linux-next.git
http://linux.f-seidel.de/linux-next/pmwiki/
This way, the -next kernel gives a summary outlook onto what will be
expected to go into the mainline kernel at the next merge period.
Adventurous testers are very welcome to runtime-test the -next kernel.
Other kernel trees can be found listed at http://git.kernel.org/ and in
the MAINTAINERS file.
Bug Reporting
-------------
......
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