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Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -07001Linux Kernel patch sumbittal checklist
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Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07004Here are some basic things that developers should do if they want to see their
5kernel patch submissions accepted more quickly.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -07006
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07007These are all above and beyond the documentation that is provided in
8Documentation/SubmittingPatches and elsewhere regarding submitting Linux
9kernel patches.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070010
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Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700131: Builds cleanly with applicable or modified CONFIG options =y, =m, and
14 =n. No gcc warnings/errors, no linker warnings/errors.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070015
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700162: Passes allnoconfig, allmodconfig
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070017
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700183: Builds on multiple CPU architectures by using local cross-compile tools
19 or something like PLM at OSDL.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070020
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700214: ppc64 is a good architecture for cross-compilation checking because it
22 tends to use `unsigned long' for 64-bit quantities.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070023
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700245: Matches kernel coding style(!)
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070025
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700266: Any new or modified CONFIG options don't muck up the config menu.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070027
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700287: All new Kconfig options have help text.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070029
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700308: Has been carefully reviewed with respect to relevant Kconfig
31 combinations. This is very hard to get right with testing -- brainpower
32 pays off here.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070033
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -0700349: Check cleanly with sparse.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070035
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07003610: Use 'make checkstack' and 'make namespacecheck' and fix any problems
37 that they find. Note: checkstack does not point out problems explicitly,
38 but any one function that uses more than 512 bytes on the stack is a
39 candidate for change.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070040
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07004111: Include kernel-doc to document global kernel APIs. (Not required for
42 static functions, but OK there also.) Use 'make htmldocs' or 'make
43 mandocs' to check the kernel-doc and fix any issues.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070044
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07004512: Has been tested with CONFIG_PREEMPT, CONFIG_DEBUG_PREEMPT,
46 CONFIG_DEBUG_SLAB, CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC, CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES,
47 CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK, CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK_SLEEP all simultaneously
48 enabled.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070049
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07005013: Has been build- and runtime tested with and without CONFIG_SMP and
51 CONFIG_PREEMPT.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070052
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07005314: If the patch affects IO/Disk, etc: has been tested with and without
54 CONFIG_LBD.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070055
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07005615: All codepaths have been exercised with all lockdep features enabled.
Randy Dunlap915a56d2006-06-23 02:05:49 -070057
Andrew Mortone54695a2006-07-10 04:45:42 -07005816: All new /proc entries are documented under Documentation/
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6017: All new kernel boot parameters are documented in
61 Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt.
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6318: All new module parameters are documented with MODULE_PARM_DESC()
Randy Dunlap1a036cd2006-09-29 02:01:26 -070064
6519: All new userspace interfaces are documented in Documentation/ABI/.
66 See Documentation/ABI/README for more information.