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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/process/howto.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/process/howto.rst | 47 |
1 files changed, 22 insertions, 25 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/process/howto.rst b/Documentation/process/howto.rst index f16242bfb962..ad2b6c852b95 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/howto.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/howto.rst @@ -235,22 +235,21 @@ Linux kernel development process currently consists of a few different main kernel "branches" and lots of different subsystem-specific kernel branches. These different branches are: - - main 4.x kernel tree - - 4.x.y -stable kernel tree - - subsystem specific kernel trees and patches - - the 4.x -next kernel tree for integration tests + - Linus's mainline tree + - Various stable trees with multiple major numbers + - Subsystem-specific trees + - linux-next integration testing tree -4.x kernel tree -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +Mainline tree +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -4.x kernels are maintained by Linus Torvalds, and can be found on -https://kernel.org in the pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ directory. Its development -process is as follows: +Mainline tree are maintained by Linus Torvalds, and can be found at +https://kernel.org or in the repo. Its development 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 - -next kernel for a few weeks. The preferred way to submit big changes + linux-next 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 https://git-scm.com/) but plain patches are also just fine. @@ -277,21 +276,19 @@ mailing list about kernel releases: released according to perceived bug status, not according to a preconceived timeline."* -4.x.y -stable kernel tree -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +Various stable trees with multiple major numbers +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kernels with 3-part versions are -stable kernels. They contain relatively small and critical fixes for security problems or significant -regressions discovered in a given 4.x kernel. +regressions discovered in a given major mainline release, with the first +2-part of version number are the same correspondingly. This is the recommended branch for users who want the most recent stable kernel and are not interested in helping test development/experimental versions. -If no 4.x.y kernel is available, then the highest numbered 4.x -kernel is the current stable kernel. - -4.x.y are maintained by the "stable" team <stable@vger.kernel.org>, and +Stable trees are maintained by the "stable" team <stable@vger.kernel.org>, and are released as needs dictate. The normal release period is approximately two weeks, but it can be longer if there are no pressing problems. A security-related problem, instead, can cause a release to happen almost @@ -301,8 +298,8 @@ The file :ref:`Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst <stable_kernel_rule in the kernel tree documents what kinds of changes are acceptable for the -stable tree, and how the release process works. -Subsystem Specific kernel trees and patches -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +Subsystem-specific trees +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The maintainers of the various kernel subsystems --- and also many kernel subsystem developers --- expose their current state of @@ -326,19 +323,19 @@ revisions to it, and maintainers can mark patches as under review, accepted, or rejected. Most of these patchwork sites are listed at https://patchwork.kernel.org/. -4.x -next kernel tree for integration tests -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +linux-next integration testing tree +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Before updates from subsystem trees are merged into the mainline 4.x -tree, they need to be integration-tested. For this purpose, a special +Before updates from subsystem trees are merged into the mainline 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: https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git -This way, the -next kernel gives a summary outlook onto what will be +This way, the linux-next 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. +Adventurous testers are very welcome to runtime-test the linux-next. Bug Reporting |