kernel/linux.git/Documentation/process/index.rst, branch v7.0.10

Merge tag 'docs-7.0' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/docs/linux

2026-02-10T04:53:18+00:00

Pull documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet: "A slightly calmer cycle for docs this time around, though there is still a fair amount going on, including: - Some signs of life on the long-moribund Japanese translation - Documentation on policies around the use of generative tools for patch submissions, and a separate document intended for consumption by generative tools - The completion of the move of the documentation tools to tools/docs. For now we're leaving a /scripts/kernel-doc symlink behind to avoid breaking scripts - Ongoing build-system work includes the incorporation of documentation in Python code, better support for documenting variables, and lots of improvements and fixes - Automatic linking of man-page references -- cat(1), for example -- to the online pages in the HTML build ...and the usual array of typo fixes and such" * tag 'docs-7.0' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/docs/linux: (107 commits) doc: development-process: add notice on testing tools: sphinx-build-wrapper: improve its help message docs: sphinx-build-wrapper: allow -v override -q docs: kdoc: Fix pdfdocs build for tools docs: ja_JP: process: translate 'Obtain a current source tree' docs: fix 're-use' -> 'reuse' in documentation docs: ioctl-number: fix a typo in ioctl-number.rst docs: filesystems: ensure proc pid substitutable is complete docs: automarkup.py: Skip common English words as C identifiers Documentation: use a source-read extension for the index link boilerplate docs: parse_features: make documentation more consistent docs: add parse_features module documentation docs: jobserver: do some documentation improvements docs: add jobserver module documentation docs: kabi: helpers: add documentation for each "enum" value docs: kabi: helpers: add helper for debug bits 7 and 8 docs: kabi: system_symbols: end docstring phrases with a dot docs: python: abi_regex: do some improvements at documentation docs: python: abi_parser: do some improvements at documentation docs: add kabi modules documentation ...

Documentation: Project continuity

2026-01-25T00:16:47+00:00

Document project continuity procedures. This is a plan for a plan for navigating events that affect the forward progress of the canonical Linux repository, torvalds/linux.git. It is a follow-up from Maintainer Summit [1]. Co-developed-by: Jonathan Corbet Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman Reviewed-by: Miguel Ojeda Reviewed-by: Kees Cook Reviewed-by: Jiri Kosina Reviewed-by: Steven Rostedt Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/1050179/ [1] Signed-off-by: Dan Williams Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds

Documentation: use a source-read extension for the index link boilerplate

2026-01-23T18:59:34+00:00

The root document usually has a special :ref:`genindex` link to the generated index. This is also the case for Documentation/index.rst. The other index.rst files deeper in the directory hierarchy usually don't. For SPHINXDIRS builds, the root document isn't Documentation/index.rst, but some other index.rst in the hierarchy. Currently they have a ".. only::" block to add the index link when doing SPHINXDIRS html builds. This is obviously very tedious and repetitive. The link is also added to all index.rst files in the hierarchy for SPHINXDIRS builds, not just the root document. Put the boilerplate in a sphinx-includes/subproject-index.rst file, and include it at the end of the root document for subproject builds in an ad-hoc source-read extension defined in conf.py. For now, keep having the boilerplate in translations, because this approach currently doesn't cover translated index link headers. Cc: Jonathan Corbet Cc: Mauro Carvalho Chehab Cc: Randy Dunlap Signed-off-by: Jani Nikula Tested-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab Reviewed-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab [jc: did s/doctree/kern_doc_dir/ ] Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Message-ID: <20260123143149.2024303-1-jani.nikula@intel.com>

Documentation: Provide guidelines for tool-generated content

2026-01-20T21:51:22+00:00

In the last few years, the capabilities of coding tools have exploded. As those capabilities have expanded, contributors and maintainers have more and more questions about how and when to apply those capabilities. Add new Documentation to guide contributors on how to best use kernel development tools, new and old. Note, though, there are fundamentally no new or unique rules in this new document. It clarifies expectations that the kernel community has had for many years. For example, researchers are already asked to disclose the tools they use to find issues by Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst. This new document just reiterates existing best practices for development tooling. In short: Please show your work and make sure your contribution is easy to review. Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen Reviewed-by: Shuah Khan Reviewed-by: Kees Cook Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman Reviewed-by: Miguel Ojeda Reviewed-by: Luis Chamberlain Reviewed-by: SeongJae Park Reviewed-by: Dan Williams Reviewed-by: Steven Rostedt Reviewed-by: Paul E. McKenney Reviewed-by: Simon Glass Reviewed-by: Lee Jones Reviewed-by: Lorenzo Stoakes Cc: NeilBrown Cc: Lorenzo Stoakes Cc: Dan Williams Cc: Theodore Ts'o Cc: Sasha Levin Cc: Jonathan Corbet Cc: Vlastimil Babka Cc: workflows@vger.kernel.org Cc: ksummit@lists.linux.dev Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/cfb8bb96-e798-474d-bc6f-9cf610fe720f@lucifer.local/ -- Changes from v5: * Add more review tags * Add a blurb to the "special" asks bullet to mention that extra testing may be requested. * Reword the closing paragraph of "Out of Scope" section for clarity * Remove an "AI" and make small wording tweak (Jon) Changes from v4: * Modest tweaking and rewording to strengthen language * Add a section to help alleviate concerns that the document would not enable maintainers to act forcefully enough in the face of high-volume low-quality contributions (aka. AI slop). This is very close to some text that Lorenzo posted. I just made some very minor wording tweaks and spelling fixes. * Note: v4 mistakenly had "v3" in the subject Changes from v3: * Wording/formatting tweaks (Randy) Changes from v2: * Mention testing (Shuah) * Remove "very", rename LLM => coding assistant (Dan) * More formatting sprucing up and minor typos (Miguel) * Make changelog and text less flashy (Christian) * Tone down critical=>helpful (Neil) Changes from v1: * Rename to generated-content.rst and add to documentation index. (Jon) * Rework subject to align with the new filename * Replace commercial names with generic ones. (Jon) * Be consistent about punctuation at the end of bullets for whole sentences. (Miguel) * Formatting sprucing up and minor typos (Miguel) This document was a collaborative effort from all the members of the TAB. I just reformatted it into .rst and wrote the changelog. Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Message-ID: <20260119200418.89541-1-dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>

docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation

2026-01-06T21:55:06+00:00

Add guidance for AI assistants and developers using AI tools for kernel contributions, per the consensus reached at the 2025 Maintainers Summit. Create Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst with detailed guidance on licensing, Signed-off-by requirements, and attribution format. The README points AI tools to this documentation. This will allow coding assistants to easily parse these instructions and comply with guidelines set by the community. Link: https://lwn.net/Articles/1049830/ Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Message-ID: <20251223122110.2496946-1-sashal@kernel.org>

docs: Add debugging section to process

2024-11-22T17:48:12+00:00

This idea was formed after noticing that new developers experience certain difficulty to navigate within the multitude of different debugging options in the Kernel and while there often is good documentation for the tools, the developer has to know first that they exist and where to find them. Add a general debugging section to the Kernel documentation, as an easily locatable entry point to other documentation and as a general guideline for the topic. Signed-off-by: Sebastian Fricke Reviewed-by: Randy Dunlap Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20241028-media_docs_improve_v3-v3-1-edf5c5b3746f@collabora.com

Docs/process/index: Remove unsorted docs section

2024-06-26T22:36:00+00:00

'Other material' section on 'process/index' is no more necessary since we have 'staging/' directory. Also all documents on the section has moved to better places. Remove the section. Signed-off-by: SeongJae Park Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240624185312.94537-6-sj@kernel.org

Docs: Move clang-format from process/ to dev-tools/

2024-06-26T22:36:00+00:00

'clang-format' is on 'Other material' section of 'process/index', but it may fit more under 'dev-tools/' directory. Move it. Signed-off-by: SeongJae Park Acked-by: Miguel Ojeda Acked-by: Federico Vaga Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240624185312.94537-5-sj@kernel.org

Docs: Move magic-number from process to staging

2024-06-26T22:36:00+00:00

'Other material' section on 'process/index' is for unsorted documents. However we also have a dedicated place for the purpose, 'staging/'. Move 'magic-number' from the section to 'staging/' directory. Signed-off-by: SeongJae Park Acked-by: Federico Vaga Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240624185312.94537-4-sj@kernel.org

Docs/process/index: Remove riscv/patch-acceptance from 'Other material' section

2024-06-26T22:36:00+00:00

'patch-acceptance' on 'Other material' section of 'process/index', which is for unsorted documents, is actually well organized under 'arch/riscv/' directory, and linked on the index document of the directory. Remove it from the 'Other material' section. Signed-off-by: SeongJae Park Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240624185312.94537-3-sj@kernel.org