Add the development process document

This is an extended document intended to help interested developers, their
managers, and their employers work with the kernel development process.

This work was supported by the Linux Foundation.

Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>

8 files changed, 2039 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/development-process/1.Intro b/Documentation/development-process/1.Intro
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8cc2cba2b10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/development-process/1.Intro
@@ -0,0 +1,274 @@
+1: A GUIDE TO THE KERNEL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
+
+The purpose of this document is to help developers (and their managers)
+work with the development community with a minimum of frustration.  It is
+an attempt to document how this community works in a way which is
+accessible to those who are not intimately familiar with Linux kernel
+development (or, indeed, free software development in general).  While
+there is some technical material here, this is very much a process-oriented
+discussion which does not require a deep knowledge of kernel programming to
+understand.
+
+
+1.1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
+
+The rest of this section covers the scope of the kernel development process
+and the kinds of frustrations that developers and their employers can
+encounter there.  There are a great many reasons why kernel code should be
+merged into the official ("mainline") kernel, including automatic
+availability to users, community support in many forms, and the ability to
+influence the direction of kernel development.  Code contributed to the
+Linux kernel must be made available under a GPL-compatible license.
+
+Section 2 introduces the development process, the kernel release cycle, and
+the mechanics of the merge window.  The various phases in the patch
+development, review, and merging cycle are covered.  There is some
+discussion of tools and mailing lists.  Developers wanting to get started
+with kernel development are encouraged to track down and fix bugs as an
+initial exercise.
+
+Section 3 covers early-stage project planning, with an emphasis on
+involving the development community as soon as possible.
+
+Section 4 is about the coding process; several pitfalls which have been
+encountered by other developers are discussed.  Some requirements for
+patches are covered, and there is an introduction to some of the tools
+which can help to ensure that kernel patches are correct.
+
+Section 5 talks about the process of posting patches for review.  To be
+taken seriously by the development community, patches must be properly
+formatted and described, and they must be sent to the right place.
+Following the advice in this section should help to ensure the best
+possible reception for your work.
+
+Section 6 covers what happens after posting patches; the job is far from
+done at that point.  Working with reviewers is a crucial part of the
+development process; this section offers a number of tips on how to avoid
+problems at this important stage.  Developers are cautioned against
+assuming that the job is done when a patch is merged into the mainline.
+
+Section 7 introduces a couple of "advanced" topics: managing patches with
+git and reviewing patches posted by others.
+
+Section 8 concludes the document with pointers to sources for more
+information on kernel development.
+
+
+1.2: WHAT THIS DOCUMENT IS ABOUT
+
+The Linux kernel, at over 6 million lines of code and well over 1000 active
+contributors, is one of the largest and most active free software projects
+in existence.  Since its humble beginning in 1991, this kernel has evolved
+into a best-of-breed operating system component which runs on pocket-sized
+digital music players, desktop PCs, the largest supercomputers in
+existence, and all types of systems in between.  It is a robust, efficient,
+and scalable solution for almost any situation.
+
+With the growth of Linux has come an increase in the number of developers
+(and companies) wishing to participate in its development.  Hardware
+vendors want to ensure that Linux supports their products well, making
+those products attractive to Linux users.  Embedded systems vendors, who
+use Linux as a component in an integrated product, want Linux to be as
+capable and well-suited to the task at hand as possible.  Distributors and
+other software vendors who base their products on Linux have a clear
+interest in the capabilities, performance, and reliability of the Linux
+kernel.  And end users, too, will often wish to change Linux to make it
+better suit their needs.
+
+One of the most compelling features of Linux is that it is accessible to
+these developers; anybody with the requisite skills can improve Linux and
+influence the direction of its development.  Proprietary products cannot
+offer this kind of openness, which is a characteristic of the free software
+process.  But, if anything, the kernel is even more open than most other
+free software projects.  A typical three-month kernel development cycle can
+involve over 1000 developers working for more than 100 different companies
+(or for no company at all).
+
+Working with the kernel development community is not especially hard.  But,
+that notwithstanding, many potential contributors have experienced
+difficulties when trying to do kernel work.  The kernel community has
+evolved its own distinct ways of operating which allow it to function
+smoothly (and produce a high-quality product) in an environment where
+thousands of lines of code are being changed every day.  So it is not
+surprising that Linux kernel development process differs greatly from
+proprietary development methods.
+
+The kernel's development process may come across as strange and
+intimidating to new developers, but there are good reasons and solid
+experience behind it.  A developer who does not understand the kernel
+community's ways (or, worse, who tries to flout or circumvent them) will
+have a frustrating experience in store.  The development community, while
+being helpful to those who are trying to learn, has little time for those
+who will not listen or who do not care about the development process.
+
+It is hoped that those who read this document will be able to avoid that
+frustrating experience.  There is a lot of material here, but the effort
+involved in reading it will be repaid in short order.  The development
+community is always in need of developers who will help to make the kernel
+better; the following text should help you - or those who work for you -
+join our community.
+
+
+1.3: CREDITS
+
+This document was written by Jonathan Corbet, corbet@lwn.net.  It has been
+improved by comments from Johannes Berg, James Berry, Alex Chiang, Roland
+Dreier, Randy Dunlap, Jake Edge, Jiri Kosina, Matt Mackall, Arthur Marsh,
+Amanda McPherson, Andrew Morton, Andrew Price, Tsugikazu Shibata, and
+Jochen Voß. 
+
+This work was supported by the Linux Foundation; thanks especially to
+Amanda McPherson, who saw the value of this effort and made it all happen.
+
+
+1.4: THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING CODE INTO THE MAINLINE
+
+Some companies and developers occasionally wonder why they should bother
+learning how to work with the kernel community and get their code into the
+mainline kernel (the "mainline" being the kernel maintained by Linus
+Torvalds and used as a base by Linux distributors).  In the short term,
+contributing code can look like an avoidable expense; it seems easier to
+just keep the code separate and support users directly.  The truth of the
+matter is that keeping code separate ("out of tree") is a false economy.
+
+As a way of illustrating the costs of out-of-tree code, here are a few
+relevant aspects of the kernel development process; most of these will be
+discussed in greater detail later in this document.  Consider:
+
+- Code which has been merged into the mainline kernel is available to all
+  Linux users.  It will automatically be present on all distributions which
+  enable it.  There is no need for driver disks, downloads, or the hassles
+  of supporting multiple versions of multiple distributions; it all just
+  works, for the developer and for the user.  Incorporation into the
+  mainline solves a large number of distribution and support problems.
+
+- While kernel developers strive to maintain a stable interface to user
+  space, the internal kernel API is in constant flux.  The lack of a stable
+  internal interface is a deliberate design decision; it allows fundamental
+  improvements to be made at any time and results in higher-quality code.
+  But one result of that policy is that any out-of-tree code requires
+  constant upkeep if it is to work with new kernels.  Maintaining
+  out-of-tree code requires significant amounts of work just to keep that
+  code working.
+
+  Code which is in the mainline, instead, does not require this work as the
+  result of a simple rule requiring any developer who makes an API change
+  to also fix any code that breaks as the result of that change.  So code
+  which has been merged into the mainline has significantly lower
+  maintenance costs.
+
+- Beyond that, code which is in the kernel will often be improved by other
+  developers.  Surprising results can come from empowering your user