1Everything you ever wanted to know about Linux -stable releases.
2
3Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are not, into the
4"-stable" tree:
5
6 - It must be obviously correct and tested.
7 - It cannot be bigger than 100 lines, with context.
8 - It must fix only one thing.
9 - It must fix a real bug that bothers people (not a, "This could be a
10   problem..." type thing).
11 - It must fix a problem that causes a build error (but not for things
12   marked CONFIG_BROKEN), an oops, a hang, data corruption, a real
13   security issue, or some "oh, that's not good" issue.  In short, something
14   critical.
15 - Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may also
16   be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity issue.
17   As these fixes are not as obvious and have a higher risk of a subtle
18   regression they should only be submitted by a distribution kernel
19   maintainer and include an addendum linking to a bugzilla entry if it
20   exists and additional information on the user-visible impact.
21 - New device IDs and quirks are also accepted.
22 - No "theoretical race condition" issues, unless an explanation of how the
23   race can be exploited is also provided.
24 - It cannot contain any "trivial" fixes in it (spelling changes,
25   whitespace cleanups, etc).
26 - It must follow the Documentation/SubmittingPatches rules.
27 - It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream).
28
29
30Procedure for submitting patches to the -stable tree:
31
32 - If the patch covers files in net/ or drivers/net please follow netdev stable
33   submission guidelines as described in
34   Documentation/networking/netdev-FAQ.txt
35 - Security patches should not be handled (solely) by the -stable review
36   process but should follow the procedures in Documentation/SecurityBugs.
37
38For all other submissions, choose one of the following procedures:
39
40   --- Option 1 ---
41
42   To have the patch automatically included in the stable tree, add the tag
43     Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
44   in the sign-off area. Once the patch is merged it will be applied to
45   the stable tree without anything else needing to be done by the author
46   or subsystem maintainer.
47
48   --- Option 2 ---
49
50   After the patch has been merged to Linus' tree, send an email to
51   stable@vger.kernel.org containing the subject of the patch, the commit ID,
52   why you think it should be applied, and what kernel version you wish it to
53   be applied to.
54
55   --- Option 3 ---
56
57   Send the patch, after verifying that it follows the above rules, to
58   stable@vger.kernel.org.  You must note the upstream commit ID in the
59   changelog of your submission, as well as the kernel version you wish
60   it to be applied to.
61
62Option 1 is probably the easiest and most common. Options 2 and 3 are more
63useful if the patch isn't deemed worthy at the time it is applied to a public
64git tree (for instance, because it deserves more regression testing first).
65Option 3 is especially useful if the patch needs some special handling to apply
66to an older kernel (e.g., if API's have changed in the meantime).
67
68Additionally, some patches submitted via Option 1 may have additional patch
69prerequisites which can be cherry-picked. This can be specified in the following
70format in the sign-off area:
71
72     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: a1f84a3: sched: Check for idle
73     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: 1b9508f: sched: Rate-limit newidle
74     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x: fd21073: sched: Fix affinity logic
75     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x
76    Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
77
78   The tag sequence has the meaning of:
79     git cherry-pick a1f84a3
80     git cherry-pick 1b9508f
81     git cherry-pick fd21073
82     git cherry-pick <this commit>
83
84Also, some patches may have kernel version prerequisites.  This can be
85specified in the following format in the sign-off area:
86
87     Cc:  <stable@vger.kernel.org> # 3.3.x-
88
89   The tag has the meaning of:
90     git cherry-pick <this commit>
91
92   For each "-stable" tree starting with the specified version.
93
94Following the submission:
95
96 - The sender will receive an ACK when the patch has been accepted into the
97   queue, or a NAK if the patch is rejected.  This response might take a few
98   days, according to the developer's schedules.
99 - If accepted, the patch will be added to the -stable queue, for review by
100   other developers and by the relevant subsystem maintainer.
101
102
103Review cycle:
104
105 - When the -stable maintainers decide for a review cycle, the patches will be
106   sent to the review committee, and the maintainer of the affected area of
107   the patch (unless the submitter is the maintainer of the area) and CC: to
108   the linux-kernel mailing list.
109 - The review committee has 48 hours in which to ACK or NAK the patch.
110 - If the patch is rejected by a member of the committee, or linux-kernel
111   members object to the patch, bringing up issues that the maintainers and
112   members did not realize, the patch will be dropped from the queue.
113 - At the end of the review cycle, the ACKed patches will be added to the
114   latest -stable release, and a new -stable release will happen.
115 - Security patches will be accepted into the -stable tree directly from the
116   security kernel team, and not go through the normal review cycle.
117   Contact the kernel security team for more details on this procedure.
118
119Trees:
120
121 - The queues of patches, for both completed versions and in progress
122   versions can be found at:
123	http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git
124 - The finalized and tagged releases of all stable kernels can be found
125   in separate branches per version at:
126	http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
127
128
129Review committee:
130
131 - This is made up of a number of kernel developers who have volunteered for
132   this task, and a few that haven't.
133