linux/Documentation/ABI
Linus Torvalds e0456717e4 Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next
Pull networking updates from David Miller:

 1) Add TX fast path in mac80211, from Johannes Berg.

 2) Add TSO/GRO support to ibmveth, from Thomas Falcon

 3) Move away from cached routes in ipv6, just like ipv4, from Martin
    KaFai Lau.

 4) Lots of new rhashtable tests, from Thomas Graf.

 5) Run ingress qdisc lockless, from Alexei Starovoitov.

 6) Allow servers to fetch TCP packet headers for SYN packets of new
    connections, for fingerprinting.  From Eric Dumazet.

 7) Add mode parameter to pktgen, for testing receive.  From Alexei
    Starovoitov.

 8) Cache access optimizations via simplifications of build_skb(), from
    Alexander Duyck.

 9) Move page frag allocator under mm/, also from Alexander.

10) Add xmit_more support to hv_netvsc, from KY Srinivasan.

11) Add a counter guard in case we try to perform endless reclassify
    loops in the packet scheduler.

12) Extern flow dissector to be programmable and use it in new "Flower"
    classifier.  From Jiri Pirko.

13) AF_PACKET fanout rollover fixes, performance improvements, and new
    statistics.  From Willem de Bruijn.

14) Add netdev driver for GENEVE tunnels, from John W Linville.

15) Add ingress netfilter hooks and filtering, from Pablo Neira Ayuso.

16) Fix handling of epoll edge triggers in TCP, from Eric Dumazet.

17) Add an ECN retry fallback for the initial TCP handshake, from Daniel
    Borkmann.

18) Add tail call support to BPF, from Alexei Starovoitov.

19) Add several pktgen helper scripts, from Jesper Dangaard Brouer.

20) Add zerocopy support to AF_UNIX, from Hannes Frederic Sowa.

21) Favor even port numbers for allocation to connect() requests, and
    odd port numbers for bind(0), in an effort to help avoid
    ip_local_port_range exhaustion.  From Eric Dumazet.

22) Add Cavium ThunderX driver, from Sunil Goutham.

23) Allow bpf programs to access skb_iif and dev->ifindex SKB metadata,
    from Alexei Starovoitov.

24) Add support for T6 chips in cxgb4vf driver, from Hariprasad Shenai.

25) Double TCP Small Queues default to 256K to accomodate situations
    like the XEN driver and wireless aggregation.  From Wei Liu.

26) Add more entropy inputs to flow dissector, from Tom Herbert.

27) Add CDG congestion control algorithm to TCP, from Kenneth Klette
    Jonassen.

28) Convert ipset over to RCU locking, from Jozsef Kadlecsik.

29) Track and act upon link status of ipv4 route nexthops, from Andy
    Gospodarek.

* git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next: (1670 commits)
  bridge: vlan: flush the dynamically learned entries on port vlan delete
  bridge: multicast: add a comment to br_port_state_selection about blocking state
  net: inet_diag: export IPV6_V6ONLY sockopt
  stmmac: troubleshoot unexpected bits in des0 & des1
  net: ipv4 sysctl option to ignore routes when nexthop link is down
  net: track link-status of ipv4 nexthops
  net: switchdev: ignore unsupported bridge flags
  net: Cavium: Fix MAC address setting in shutdown state
  drivers: net: xgene: fix for ACPI support without ACPI
  ip: report the original address of ICMP messages
  net/mlx5e: Prefetch skb data on RX
  net/mlx5e: Pop cq outside mlx5e_get_cqe
  net/mlx5e: Remove mlx5e_cq.sqrq back-pointer
  net/mlx5e: Remove extra spaces
  net/mlx5e: Avoid TX CQE generation if more xmit packets expected
  net/mlx5e: Avoid redundant dev_kfree_skb() upon NOP completion
  net/mlx5e: Remove re-assignment of wq type in mlx5e_enable_rq()
  net/mlx5e: Use skb_shinfo(skb)->gso_segs rather than counting them
  net/mlx5e: Static mapping of netdev priv resources to/from netdev TX queues
  net/mlx4_en: Use HW counters for rx/tx bytes/packets in PF device
  ...
2015-06-24 16:49:49 -07:00
..
obsolete zram: deprecate zram attrs sysfs nodes 2015-04-15 16:35:21 -07:00
removed net_dma: simple removal 2014-09-28 07:05:16 -07:00
stable drivers/core/of: Add symlink to device-tree from devices with an OF node 2015-03-25 14:56:58 +01:00
testing Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net-next 2015-06-24 16:49:49 -07:00
README Documentation/ABI: document the non-ABI status of Kconfig and symbols 2013-11-13 12:09:32 +09:00

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/stable_api_nonsense.txt.