linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds a5adcfcad5 A large number of bug fixes and cleanups. One new feature to allow
users to more easily find the jbd2 journal thread for a particular
 ext4 file system.
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Merge tag 'ext4_for_linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tytso/ext4

Pull ext4 updates from Ted Ts'o:
 "A large number of bug fixes and cleanups.

  One new feature to allow users to more easily find the jbd2 journal
  thread for a particular ext4 file system"

* tag 'ext4_for_linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tytso/ext4: (25 commits)
  jbd2: jbd2_get_transaction does not need to return a value
  jbd2: fix invalid descriptor block checksum
  ext4: fix bigalloc cluster freeing when hole punching under load
  ext4: add sysfs attr /sys/fs/ext4/<disk>/journal_task
  ext4: Change debugging support help prefix from EXT4 to Ext4
  ext4: fix compile error when using BUFFER_TRACE
  jbd2: fix compile warning when using JBUFFER_TRACE
  ext4: fix some error pointer dereferences
  ext4: annotate more implicit fall throughs
  ext4: annotate implicit fall throughs
  ext4: don't update s_rev_level if not required
  jbd2: fold jbd2_superblock_csum_{verify,set} into their callers
  jbd2: fix race when writing superblock
  ext4: fix crash during online resizing
  ext4: disallow files with EXT4_JOURNAL_DATA_FL from EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT
  ext4: add mask of ext4 flags to swap
  ext4: update quota information while swapping boot loader inode
  ext4: cleanup pagecache before swap i_data
  ext4: fix check of inode in swap_inode_boot_loader
  ext4: unlock unused_pages timely when doing writeback
  ...
2019-03-12 15:03:21 -07:00
..
obsolete usb: typec: Bus type for alternate modes 2018-07-02 17:42:36 +02:00
removed acpi, nfit: Remove ecc_unit_size 2018-06-03 12:49:15 -07:00
stable platform-drivers-x86 for v5.1-1 2019-03-10 13:16:37 -07:00
testing A large number of bug fixes and cleanups. One new feature to allow 2019-03-12 15:03:21 -07:00
README docs: fix locations of several documents that got moved 2016-10-24 08:12:35 -02:00

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.

  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/process/stable-api-nonsense.rst.