linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 8e483ed134 char/misc drivers for 4.4-rc1
Here is the big char/misc driver update for 4.4-rc1.  Lots of different
 driver and subsystem updates, hwtracing being the largest with the
 addition of some new platforms that are now supported.  Full details in
 the shortlog.
 
 All of these have been in linux-next for a long time with no reported issues.
 
 Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
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Merge tag 'char-misc-4.4-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/char-misc

Pull char/misc driver updates from Greg KH:
 "Here is the big char/misc driver update for 4.4-rc1.  Lots of
  different driver and subsystem updates, hwtracing being the largest
  with the addition of some new platforms that are now supported.  Full
  details in the shortlog.

  All of these have been in linux-next for a long time with no reported
  issues"

* tag 'char-misc-4.4-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/char-misc: (181 commits)
  fpga: socfpga: Fix check of return value of devm_request_irq
  lkdtm: fix ACCESS_USERSPACE test
  mcb: Destroy IDA on module unload
  mcb: Do not return zero on error path in mcb_pci_probe()
  mei: bus: set the device name before running fixup
  mei: bus: use correct lock ordering
  mei: Fix debugfs filename in error output
  char: ipmi: ipmi_ssif: Replace timeval with timespec64
  fpga: zynq-fpga: Fix issue with drvdata being overwritten.
  fpga manager: remove unnecessary null pointer checks
  fpga manager: ensure lifetime with of_fpga_mgr_get
  fpga: zynq-fpga: Change fw format to handle bin instead of bit.
  fpga: zynq-fpga: Fix unbalanced clock handling
  misc: sram: partition base address belongs to __iomem space
  coresight: etm3x: adding documentation for sysFS's cpu interface
  vme: 8-bit status/id takes 256 values, not 255
  fpga manager: Adding FPGA Manager support for Xilinx Zynq 7000
  ARM: zynq: dt: Updated devicetree for Zynq 7000 platform.
  ARM: dt: fpga: Added binding docs for Xilinx Zynq FPGA manager.
  ver_linux: proc/modules, limit text processing to 'sed'
  ...
2015-11-04 22:15:15 -08:00
..
obsolete zram: deprecate zram attrs sysfs nodes 2015-04-15 16:35:21 -07:00
removed
stable Drivers: hv: vmbus: document the VMBus sysfs files 2015-08-05 11:44:29 -07:00
testing char/misc drivers for 4.4-rc1 2015-11-04 22:15:15 -08:00
README

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/stable_api_nonsense.txt.