linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 237f83dfbe Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next
Pull networking updates from David Miller:
 "Some highlights from this development cycle:

   1) Big refactoring of ipv6 route and neigh handling to support
      nexthop objects configurable as units from userspace. From David
      Ahern.

   2) Convert explored_states in BPF verifier into a hash table,
      significantly decreased state held for programs with bpf2bpf
      calls, from Alexei Starovoitov.

   3) Implement bpf_send_signal() helper, from Yonghong Song.

   4) Various classifier enhancements to mvpp2 driver, from Maxime
      Chevallier.

   5) Add aRFS support to hns3 driver, from Jian Shen.

   6) Fix use after free in inet frags by allocating fqdirs dynamically
      and reworking how rhashtable dismantle occurs, from Eric Dumazet.

   7) Add act_ctinfo packet classifier action, from Kevin
      Darbyshire-Bryant.

   8) Add TFO key backup infrastructure, from Jason Baron.

   9) Remove several old and unused ISDN drivers, from Arnd Bergmann.

  10) Add devlink notifications for flash update status to mlxsw driver,
      from Jiri Pirko.

  11) Lots of kTLS offload infrastructure fixes, from Jakub Kicinski.

  12) Add support for mv88e6250 DSA chips, from Rasmus Villemoes.

  13) Various enhancements to ipv6 flow label handling, from Eric
      Dumazet and Willem de Bruijn.

  14) Support TLS offload in nfp driver, from Jakub Kicinski, Dirk van
      der Merwe, and others.

  15) Various improvements to axienet driver including converting it to
      phylink, from Robert Hancock.

  16) Add PTP support to sja1105 DSA driver, from Vladimir Oltean.

  17) Add mqprio qdisc offload support to dpaa2-eth, from Ioana
      Radulescu.

  18) Add devlink health reporting to mlx5, from Moshe Shemesh.

  19) Convert stmmac over to phylink, from Jose Abreu.

  20) Add PTP PHC (Physical Hardware Clock) support to mlxsw, from
      Shalom Toledo.

  21) Add nftables SYNPROXY support, from Fernando Fernandez Mancera.

  22) Convert tcp_fastopen over to use SipHash, from Ard Biesheuvel.

  23) Track spill/fill of constants in BPF verifier, from Alexei
      Starovoitov.

  24) Support bounded loops in BPF, from Alexei Starovoitov.

  25) Various page_pool API fixes and improvements, from Jesper Dangaard
      Brouer.

  26) Just like ipv4, support ref-countless ipv6 route handling. From
      Wei Wang.

  27) Support VLAN offloading in aquantia driver, from Igor Russkikh.

  28) Add AF_XDP zero-copy support to mlx5, from Maxim Mikityanskiy.

  29) Add flower GRE encap/decap support to nfp driver, from Pieter
      Jansen van Vuuren.

  30) Protect against stack overflow when using act_mirred, from John
      Hurley.

  31) Allow devmap map lookups from eBPF, from Toke Høiland-Jørgensen.

  32) Use page_pool API in netsec driver, Ilias Apalodimas.

  33) Add Google gve network driver, from Catherine Sullivan.

  34) More indirect call avoidance, from Paolo Abeni.

  35) Add kTLS TX HW offload support to mlx5, from Tariq Toukan.

  36) Add XDP_REDIRECT support to bnxt_en, from Andy Gospodarek.

  37) Add MPLS manipulation actions to TC, from John Hurley.

  38) Add sending a packet to connection tracking from TC actions, and
      then allow flower classifier matching on conntrack state. From
      Paul Blakey.

  39) Netfilter hw offload support, from Pablo Neira Ayuso"

* git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next: (2080 commits)
  net/mlx5e: Return in default case statement in tx_post_resync_params
  mlx5: Return -EINVAL when WARN_ON_ONCE triggers in mlx5e_tls_resync().
  net: dsa: add support for BRIDGE_MROUTER attribute
  pkt_sched: Include const.h
  net: netsec: remove static declaration for netsec_set_tx_de()
  net: netsec: remove superfluous if statement
  netfilter: nf_tables: add hardware offload support
  net: flow_offload: rename tc_cls_flower_offload to flow_cls_offload
  net: flow_offload: add flow_block_cb_is_busy() and use it
  net: sched: remove tcf block API
  drivers: net: use flow block API
  net: sched: use flow block API
  net: flow_offload: add flow_block_cb_{priv, incref, decref}()
  net: flow_offload: add list handling functions
  net: flow_offload: add flow_block_cb_alloc() and flow_block_cb_free()
  net: flow_offload: rename TCF_BLOCK_BINDER_TYPE_* to FLOW_BLOCK_BINDER_TYPE_*
  net: flow_offload: rename TC_BLOCK_{UN}BIND to FLOW_BLOCK_{UN}BIND
  net: flow_offload: add flow_block_cb_setup_simple()
  net: hisilicon: Add an tx_desc to adapt HI13X1_GMAC
  net: hisilicon: Add an rx_desc to adapt HI13X1_GMAC
  ...
2019-07-11 10:55:49 -07:00
..
obsolete This feature/cleanup patchset includes the following patches: 2019-03-28 09:52:42 -07:00
removed acpi, nfit: Remove ecc_unit_size 2018-06-03 12:49:15 -07:00
stable Char/Misc patches for 5.2-rc1 - part 2 2019-05-07 13:39:22 -07:00
testing Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next 2019-07-11 10:55:49 -07:00
README docs: fix locations of several documents that got moved 2016-10-24 08:12:35 -02:00

This directory attempts to document the ABI between the Linux kernel and
userspace, and the relative stability of these interfaces.  Due to the
everchanging nature of Linux, and the differing maturity levels, these
interfaces should be used by userspace programs in different ways.

We have four different levels of ABI stability, as shown by the four
different subdirectories in this location.  Interfaces may change levels
of stability according to the rules described below.

The different levels of stability are:

  stable/
	This directory documents the interfaces that the developer has
	defined to be stable.  Userspace programs are free to use these
	interfaces with no restrictions, and backward compatibility for
	them will be guaranteed for at least 2 years.  Most interfaces
	(like syscalls) are expected to never change and always be
	available.

  testing/
	This directory documents interfaces that are felt to be stable,
	as the main development of this interface has been completed.
	The interface can be changed to add new features, but the
	current interface will not break by doing this, unless grave
	errors or security problems are found in them.  Userspace
	programs can start to rely on these interfaces, but they must be
	aware of changes that can occur before these interfaces move to
	be marked stable.  Programs that use these interfaces are
	strongly encouraged to add their name to the description of
	these interfaces, so that the kernel developers can easily
	notify them if any changes occur (see the description of the
	layout of the files below for details on how to do this.)

  obsolete/
  	This directory documents interfaces that are still remaining in
	the kernel, but are marked to be removed at some later point in
	time.  The description of the interface will document the reason
	why it is obsolete and when it can be expected to be removed.

  removed/
	This directory contains a list of the old interfaces that have
	been removed from the kernel.

Every file in these directories will contain the following information:

What:		Short description of the interface
Date:		Date created
KernelVersion:	Kernel version this feature first showed up in.
Contact:	Primary contact for this interface (may be a mailing list)
Description:	Long description of the interface and how to use it.
Users:		All users of this interface who wish to be notified when
		it changes.  This is very important for interfaces in
		the "testing" stage, so that kernel developers can work
		with userspace developers to ensure that things do not
		break in ways that are unacceptable.  It is also
		important to get feedback for these interfaces to make
		sure they are working in a proper way and do not need to
		be changed further.


How things move between levels:

Interfaces in stable may move to obsolete, as long as the proper
notification is given.

Interfaces may be removed from obsolete and the kernel as long as the
documented amount of time has gone by.

Interfaces in the testing state can move to the stable state when the
developers feel they are finished.  They cannot be removed from the
kernel tree without going through the obsolete state first.

It's up to the developer to place their interfaces in the category they
wish for it to start out in.


Notable bits of non-ABI, which should not under any circumstances be considered
stable:

- Kconfig.  Userspace should not rely on the presence or absence of any
  particular Kconfig symbol, in /proc/config.gz, in the copy of .config
  commonly installed to /boot, or in any invocation of the kernel build
  process.

- Kernel-internal symbols.  Do not rely on the presence, absence, location, or
  type of any kernel symbol, either in System.map files or the kernel binary
  itself.  See Documentation/process/stable-api-nonsense.rst.