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41 <h2>Stable kernel maintenance for distributions</h2>
46 <div class="presentation">
49 <h1>Stable kernel maintenance for distributions</h1>
50 <object data="tux.svg" width="35%" align="right"></object>
51 <h3>Ben Hutchings</h3>
56 <h1>Linux stable releases</h1>
59 Linus releases a stable 3.<var>x</var> every 2-3 months after
60 a series of release candidates
63 Greg K-H maintains a <dfn>stable branch</dfn> for each Linus
64 release, with <dfn>stable update</dfn> releases numbered
65 3.<var>x</var>.<var>y</var>
68 Branch includes cherry-picked or backported changes to fix
69 serious bugs and add support for new devices
72 Updates released roughly every 1-2 weeks, at least until
73 3.<var>x</var>+1 is available
76 A <dfn>longterm</dfn> stable branch may be maintained by Greg or
77 another developer beyond this period (I look after 3.2)
83 <h1>The stable update process (1)</h1>
86 All changes go to mailing
87 list <a href="mailto:stable@vger.kernel.org">stable@vger.kernel.org</a>
90 A commit with a <tt>Cc:</tt> pseudo-header for this address will
91 be picked up by stable maintainers once Linus pulls the commit
94 If it doesn't apply to a stable branch, the author is usually
95 notified and may provide a backported version
98 Any commit in Linus's tree, or a fix for a stable-only
99 regression, can be nominated by mail to this list, if it
100 meets the criteria - see
101 <a href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/stable_kernel_rules.txt"><tt>Documentation/stable_kernel_rules.txt</tt></a>
107 <h1>The stable update process (2)</h1>
110 Stable branch maintainer sends pending changes to the mailing
111 list, the original authors, etc., for a time-limited period of
115 Although the changes have been accepted by Linus, some might
116 not be needed in a stable branch or might not work due to
120 A fix might have been found to introduce a regression in
121 mainline, so should only be applied to the stable branch
122 along with a second fix for the regression
127 All changes that passed review (and maybe some that were
128 added) are applied to the stable branch and the release is
132 Greg pushes the tag to kernel.org (possibly after pulling
133 from the other maintainer) which generates tarballs,
134 updates the front page, etc.
137 Maintainer announces the release, shortly followed by LWN
147 Linux 'Tux' logo © Larry Ewing, Simon Budig.
149 Redistribution is free but has to include this notice.