linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds 5e5466433d Char/Misc and other driver changes for 6.12-rc1
Here is the "big" set of char/misc and other driver subsystem changes
 for 6.12-rc1.  Sorry for the delay, conference travel for the past two
 weeks has this and my other pull requests showing up real late
 in the cycle.
 
 Lots of changes in here, primarily dominated by the usual IIO driver
 updates and additions, but there are also small driver subsystem updates
 all over the place.  Included in here are:
   - lots and lots of new IIO drivers and updates to existing ones
   - interconnect subsystem updates and new drivers
   - nvmem subsystem updates and new drivers
   - mhi driver updates
   - power supply subsystem updates
   - kobj_type const work for many different small subsystems
   - comedi driver fix
   - coresight subsystem and driver updates
   - fpga subsystem improvements
   - slimbus fixups
   - binder new feature addition for "frozen" notifications
   - lots and lots of other small driver updates and cleanups
 
 All of these have been in linux-next for a long time with no reported
 problems.
 
 Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
 
 iG0EABECAC0WIQT0tgzFv3jCIUoxPcsxR9QN2y37KQUCZvUxoA8cZ3JlZ0Brcm9h
 aC5jb20ACgkQMUfUDdst+ykEnwCgnv9Q9tNrabLB2VXu8dRgMCee0J4AoIc5qA7/
 mLXk2wxl5+dt/dfNgZIp
 =x5HV
 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Merge tag 'char-misc-6.12-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/char-misc

Pull char / misc driver updates from Greg KH:
 "Here is the "big" set of char/misc and other driver subsystem changes
  for 6.12-rc1.

  Lots of changes in here, primarily dominated by the usual IIO driver
  updates and additions, but there are also small driver subsystem
  updates all over the place. Included in here are:

   - lots and lots of new IIO drivers and updates to existing ones

   - interconnect subsystem updates and new drivers

   - nvmem subsystem updates and new drivers

   - mhi driver updates

   - power supply subsystem updates

   - kobj_type const work for many different small subsystems

   - comedi driver fix

   - coresight subsystem and driver updates

   - fpga subsystem improvements

   - slimbus fixups

   - binder new feature addition for "frozen" notifications

   - lots and lots of other small driver updates and cleanups

  All of these have been in linux-next for a long time with no reported
  problems"

* tag 'char-misc-6.12-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/char-misc: (354 commits)
  greybus: gb-beagleplay: Add firmware upload API
  arm64: dts: ti: k3-am625-beagleplay: Add bootloader-backdoor-gpios to cc1352p7
  dt-bindings: net: ti,cc1352p7: Add bootloader-backdoor-gpios
  MAINTAINERS: Update path for U-Boot environment variables YAML
  nvmem: layouts: add U-Boot env layout
  comedi: ni_routing: tools: Check when the file could not be opened
  ocxl: Remove the unused declarations in headr file
  hpet: Fix the wrong format specifier
  uio: Constify struct kobj_type
  cxl: Constify struct kobj_type
  binder: modify the comment for binder_proc_unlock
  iio: adc: axp20x_adc: add support for AXP717 ADC
  dt-bindings: iio: adc: Add AXP717 compatible
  iio: adc: axp20x_adc: Add adc_en1 and adc_en2 to axp_data
  w1: ds2482: Drop explicit initialization of struct i2c_device_id::driver_data to 0
  tools: iio: rm .*.cmd when make clean
  iio: adc: standardize on formatting for id match tables
  iio: proximity: aw96103: Add support for aw96103/aw96105 proximity sensor
  bus: mhi: host: pci_generic: Enable EDL trigger for Foxconn modems
  bus: mhi: host: pci_generic: Update EDL firmware path for Foxconn modems
  ...
2024-09-26 10:13:08 -07:00
..
obsolete Documentation: ABI: update sysfs-gpio to reference gpio-cdev 2024-01-22 10:49:03 +01:00
removed Documentation: Mark the 'efivars' sysfs interface as removed 2024-04-13 10:33:02 +02:00
stable Char/Misc and other driver changes for 6.12-rc1 2024-09-26 10:13:08 -07:00
testing Char/Misc and other driver changes for 6.12-rc1 2024-09-26 10:13:08 -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.

  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.


Note:
   The fields should be use a simple notation, compatible with ReST markup.
   Also, the file **should not** have a top-level index, like::

	===
	foo
	===

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.