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mirror of https://github.com/edk2-porting/linux-next.git synced 2024-12-28 15:13:55 +08:00
linux-next/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds b23c4771ff A fair amount of stuff this time around, dominated by yet another massive
set from Mauro toward the completion of the RST conversion.  I *really*
 hope we are getting close to the end of this.  Meanwhile, those patches
 reach pretty far afield to update document references around the tree;
 there should be no actual code changes there.  There will be, alas, more of
 the usual trivial merge conflicts.
 
 Beyond that we have more translations, improvements to the sphinx
 scripting, a number of additions to the sysctl documentation, and lots of
 fixes.
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Merge tag 'docs-5.8' of git://git.lwn.net/linux

Pull documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet:
 "A fair amount of stuff this time around, dominated by yet another
  massive set from Mauro toward the completion of the RST conversion. I
  *really* hope we are getting close to the end of this. Meanwhile,
  those patches reach pretty far afield to update document references
  around the tree; there should be no actual code changes there. There
  will be, alas, more of the usual trivial merge conflicts.

  Beyond that we have more translations, improvements to the sphinx
  scripting, a number of additions to the sysctl documentation, and lots
  of fixes"

* tag 'docs-5.8' of git://git.lwn.net/linux: (130 commits)
  Documentation: fixes to the maintainer-entry-profile template
  zswap: docs/vm: Fix typo accept_threshold_percent in zswap.rst
  tracing: Fix events.rst section numbering
  docs: acpi: fix old http link and improve document format
  docs: filesystems: add info about efivars content
  Documentation: LSM: Correct the basic LSM description
  mailmap: change email for Ricardo Ribalda
  docs: sysctl/kernel: document unaligned controls
  Documentation: admin-guide: update bug-hunting.rst
  docs: sysctl/kernel: document ngroups_max
  nvdimm: fixes to maintainter-entry-profile
  Documentation/features: Correct RISC-V kprobes support entry
  Documentation/features: Refresh the arch support status files
  Revert "docs: sysctl/kernel: document ngroups_max"
  docs: move locking-specific documents to locking/
  docs: move digsig docs to the security book
  docs: move the kref doc into the core-api book
  docs: add IRQ documentation at the core-api book
  docs: debugging-via-ohci1394.txt: add it to the core-api book
  docs: fix references for ipmi.rst file
  ...
2020-06-01 15:45:27 -07:00
..
obsolete powerpc updates for 5.7 2020-04-05 11:12:59 -07:00
removed powerpc updates for 5.7 2020-04-05 11:12:59 -07:00
stable docs: filesystems: fix renamed references 2020-04-20 15:45:22 -06:00
testing A fair amount of stuff this time around, dominated by yet another massive 2020-06-01 15:45:27 -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.