linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 3b59bf0816 Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next
Pull networking merge from David Miller:
 "1) Move ixgbe driver over to purely page based buffering on receive.
     From Alexander Duyck.

  2) Add receive packet steering support to e1000e, from Bruce Allan.

  3) Convert TCP MD5 support over to RCU, from Eric Dumazet.

  4) Reduce cpu usage in handling out-of-order TCP packets on modern
     systems, also from Eric Dumazet.

  5) Support the IP{,V6}_UNICAST_IF socket options, making the wine
     folks happy, from Erich Hoover.

  6) Support VLAN trunking from guests in hyperv driver, from Haiyang
     Zhang.

  7) Support byte-queue-limtis in r8169, from Igor Maravic.

  8) Outline code intended for IP_RECVTOS in IP_PKTOPTIONS existed but
     was never properly implemented, Jiri Benc fixed that.

  9) 64-bit statistics support in r8169 and 8139too, from Junchang Wang.

  10) Support kernel side dump filtering by ctmark in netfilter
      ctnetlink, from Pablo Neira Ayuso.

  11) Support byte-queue-limits in gianfar driver, from Paul Gortmaker.

  12) Add new peek socket options to assist with socket migration, from
      Pavel Emelyanov.

  13) Add sch_plug packet scheduler whose queue is controlled by
      userland daemons using explicit freeze and release commands.  From
      Shriram Rajagopalan.

  14) Fix FCOE checksum offload handling on transmit, from Yi Zou."

* git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next: (1846 commits)
  Fix pppol2tp getsockname()
  Remove printk from rds_sendmsg
  ipv6: fix incorrent ipv6 ipsec packet fragment
  cpsw: Hook up default ndo_change_mtu.
  net: qmi_wwan: fix build error due to cdc-wdm dependecy
  netdev: driver: ethernet: Add TI CPSW driver
  netdev: driver: ethernet: add cpsw address lookup engine support
  phy: add am79c874 PHY support
  mlx4_core: fix race on comm channel
  bonding: send igmp report for its master
  fs_enet: Add MPC5125 FEC support and PHY interface selection
  net: bpf_jit: fix BPF_S_LDX_B_MSH compilation
  net: update the usage of CHECKSUM_UNNECESSARY
  fcoe: use CHECKSUM_UNNECESSARY instead of CHECKSUM_PARTIAL on tx
  net: do not do gso for CHECKSUM_UNNECESSARY in netif_needs_gso
  ixgbe: Fix issues with SR-IOV loopback when flow control is disabled
  net/hyperv: Fix the code handling tx busy
  ixgbe: fix namespace issues when FCoE/DCB is not enabled
  rtlwifi: Remove unused ETH_ADDR_LEN defines
  igbvf: Use ETH_ALEN
  ...

Fix up fairly trivial conflicts in drivers/isdn/gigaset/interface.c and
drivers/net/usb/{Kconfig,qmi_wwan.c} as per David.
2012-03-20 21:04:47 -07:00
..
obsolete oom: remove references to old badness() function 2011-07-25 20:57:09 -07:00
removed driver-core: documentation: fix up Greg's email address 2012-02-15 14:48:01 -08:00
stable driver-core: documentation: fix up Greg's email address 2012-02-15 14:48:01 -08:00
testing Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next 2012-03-20 21:04:47 -07:00
README [PATCH] Add kernel<->userspace ABI stability documentation 2006-06-21 12:40:47 -07:00

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.
	The file Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt may describe
	some of these interfaces, giving a schedule for when they will
	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.