linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 6a5a3d6a4a SCSI misc on 20121012
This is an assorted set of stragglers into the merge window with driver
 updates for megaraid_sas, lpfc, bfi and mvumi. It also includes some fairly
 major fixes for virtio-scsi (scatterlist init), scsi_debug (off by one error),
 storvsc (use after free) and qla2xxx (potential deadlock).
 
 Signed-off-by: James Bottomley <JBottomley@Parallels.com>
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Merge tag 'scsi-misc' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jejb/scsi

Pull misc SCSI updates from James Bottomley:
 "This is an assorted set of stragglers into the merge window with
  driver updates for megaraid_sas, lpfc, bfi and mvumi.  It also
  includes some fairly major fixes for virtio-scsi (scatterlist init),
  scsi_debug (off by one error), storvsc (use after free) and qla2xxx
  (potential deadlock).

  Signed-off-by: James Bottomley <JBottomley@Parallels.com>"

* tag 'scsi-misc' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jejb/scsi: (49 commits)
  [SCSI] storvsc: Account for in-transit packets in the RESET path
  [SCSI] qla2xxx: fix potential deadlock on ha->hardware_lock
  [SCSI] scsi_debug: Fix off-by-one bug when unmapping region
  [SCSI] Shorten the path length of scsi_cmd_to_driver()
  [SCSI] virtio-scsi: support online resizing of disks
  [SCSI] virtio-scsi: fix LUNs greater than 255
  [SCSI] virtio-scsi: initialize scatterlist structure
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Version, Changelog, Copyright update
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Remove duplicate code
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Add SystemPD FastPath support
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Add array boundary check for SystemPD
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Load io_request DataLength in bytes
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Add module param for configurable MSI-X vector count
  [SCSI] megaraid_sas: Remove un-needed completion_lock spinlock calls
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Update lpfc version for 8.3.35 driver release
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Fixed not reporting logical link speed to SCSI midlayer when QoS not on
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Fix error with fabric service parameters causing performance issues
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Fixed SCSI host create showing wrong link speed on SLI3 HBA ports
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Fixed not checking solicition in progress bit when verifying FCF record for use
  [SCSI] lpfc 8.3.35: Fixed messages for misconfigured port errors
  ...
2012-10-13 10:57:01 +09:00
..
obsolete oom: remove deprecated oom_adj 2012-10-09 16:22:24 +09:00
removed netfilter: remove ip_queue support 2012-05-08 20:25:42 +02:00
stable - Small fixes and optimizations. 2012-07-30 09:32:39 -07:00
testing SCSI misc on 20121012 2012-10-13 10:57:01 +09:00
README [PATCH] Add kernel<->userspace ABI stability documentation 2006-06-21 12:40:47 -07:00

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.
	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.