linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 048ccca8c1 Initial roundup of 4.5 merge window patches
- Remove usage of ib_query_device and instead store attributes in
   ib_device struct
 - Move iopoll out of block and into lib, rename to irqpoll, and use
   in several places in the rdma stack as our new completion queue
   polling library mechanism.  Update the other block drivers that
   already used iopoll to use the new mechanism too.
 - Replace the per-entry GID table locks with a single GID table lock
 - IPoIB multicast cleanup
 - Cleanups to the IB MR facility
 - Add support for 64bit extended IB counters
 - Fix for netlink oops while parsing RDMA nl messages
 - RoCEv2 support for the core IB code
 - mlx4 RoCEv2 support
 - mlx5 RoCEv2 support
 - Cross Channel support for mlx5
 - Timestamp support for mlx5
 - Atomic support for mlx5
 - Raw QP support for mlx5
 - MAINTAINERS update for mlx4/mlx5
 - Misc ocrdma, qib, nes, usNIC, cxgb3, cxgb4, mlx4, mlx5 updates
 - Add support for remote invalidate to the iSER driver (pushed through the
   RDMA tree due to dependencies, acknowledged by nab)
 - Update to NFSoRDMA (pushed through the RDMA tree due to dependencies,
   acknowledged by Bruce)
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Merge tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dledford/rdma

Pull rdma updates from Doug Ledford:
 "Initial roundup of 4.5 merge window patches

   - Remove usage of ib_query_device and instead store attributes in
     ib_device struct

   - Move iopoll out of block and into lib, rename to irqpoll, and use
     in several places in the rdma stack as our new completion queue
     polling library mechanism.  Update the other block drivers that
     already used iopoll to use the new mechanism too.

   - Replace the per-entry GID table locks with a single GID table lock

   - IPoIB multicast cleanup

   - Cleanups to the IB MR facility

   - Add support for 64bit extended IB counters

   - Fix for netlink oops while parsing RDMA nl messages

   - RoCEv2 support for the core IB code

   - mlx4 RoCEv2 support

   - mlx5 RoCEv2 support

   - Cross Channel support for mlx5

   - Timestamp support for mlx5

   - Atomic support for mlx5

   - Raw QP support for mlx5

   - MAINTAINERS update for mlx4/mlx5

   - Misc ocrdma, qib, nes, usNIC, cxgb3, cxgb4, mlx4, mlx5 updates

   - Add support for remote invalidate to the iSER driver (pushed
     through the RDMA tree due to dependencies, acknowledged by nab)

   - Update to NFSoRDMA (pushed through the RDMA tree due to
     dependencies, acknowledged by Bruce)"

* tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dledford/rdma: (169 commits)
  IB/mlx5: Unify CQ create flags check
  IB/mlx5: Expose Raw Packet QP to user space consumers
  {IB, net}/mlx5: Move the modify QP operation table to mlx5_ib
  IB/mlx5: Support setting Ethernet priority for Raw Packet QPs
  IB/mlx5: Add Raw Packet QP query functionality
  IB/mlx5: Add create and destroy functionality for Raw Packet QP
  IB/mlx5: Refactor mlx5_ib_qp to accommodate other QP types
  IB/mlx5: Allocate a Transport Domain for each ucontext
  net/mlx5_core: Warn on unsupported events of QP/RQ/SQ
  net/mlx5_core: Add RQ and SQ event handling
  net/mlx5_core: Export transport objects
  IB/mlx5: Expose CQE version to user-space
  IB/mlx5: Add CQE version 1 support to user QPs and SRQs
  IB/mlx5: Fix data validation in mlx5_ib_alloc_ucontext
  IB/sa: Fix netlink local service GFP crash
  IB/srpt: Remove redundant wc array
  IB/qib: Improve ipoib UD performance
  IB/mlx4: Advertise RoCE v2 support
  IB/mlx4: Create and use another QP1 for RoCEv2
  IB/mlx4: Enable send of RoCE QP1 packets with IP/UDP headers
  ...
2016-01-23 18:45:06 -08:00
..
obsolete HID: roccat: Fixed resubmit: Deprecating most Roccat sysfs attributes 2015-10-21 11:54:42 +02:00
removed net_dma: simple removal 2014-09-28 07:05:16 -07:00
stable Doc: ABI/stable: Fix typo in ABI/stable 2015-11-02 18:10:33 -07:00
testing Initial roundup of 4.5 merge window patches 2016-01-23 18:45:06 -08:00
README Documentation/ABI: document the non-ABI status of Kconfig and symbols 2013-11-13 12:09:32 +09:00

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.