diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/SubmittingDrivers')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/SubmittingDrivers | 145 |
1 files changed, 145 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingDrivers b/Documentation/SubmittingDrivers new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..de3b252e717d --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingDrivers @@ -0,0 +1,145 @@ +Submitting Drivers For The Linux Kernel +--------------------------------------- + +This document is intended to explain how to submit device drivers to the +various kernel trees. Note that if you are interested in video card drivers +you should probably talk to XFree86 (http://www.xfree86.org/) and/or X.Org +(http://x.org/) instead. + +Also read the Documentation/SubmittingPatches document. + + +Allocating Device Numbers +------------------------- + +Major and minor numbers for block and character devices are allocated +by the Linux assigned name and number authority (currently better +known as H Peter Anvin). The site is http://www.lanana.org/. This +also deals with allocating numbers for devices that are not going to +be submitted to the mainstream kernel. + +If you don't use assigned numbers then when you device is submitted it will +get given an assigned number even if that is different from values you may +have shipped to customers before. + +Who To Submit Drivers To +------------------------ + +Linux 2.0: + No new drivers are accepted for this kernel tree + +Linux 2.2: + If the code area has a general maintainer then please submit it to + the maintainer listed in MAINTAINERS in the kernel file. If the + maintainer does not respond or you cannot find the appropriate + maintainer then please contact Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk> + +Linux 2.4: + The same rules apply as 2.2. The final contact point for Linux 2.4 + submissions is Marcelo Tosatti <marcelo.tosatti@cyclades.com>. + +Linux 2.6: + The same rules apply as 2.4 except that you should follow linux-kernel + to track changes in API's. The final contact point for Linux 2.6 + submissions is Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>. + +What Criteria Determine Acceptance +---------------------------------- + +Licensing: The code must be released to us under the + GNU General Public License. We don't insist on any kind + of exclusively GPL licensing, and if you wish the driver + to be useful to other communities such as BSD you may well + wish to release under multiple licenses. + +Copyright: The copyright owner must agree to use of GPL. + It's best if the submitter and copyright owner + are the same person/entity. If not, the name of + the person/entity authorizing use of GPL should be + listed in case it's necessary to verify the will of + the copright owner. + +Interfaces: If your driver uses existing interfaces and behaves like + other drivers in the same class it will be much more likely + to be accepted than if it invents gratuitous new ones. + If you need to implement a common API over Linux and NT + drivers do it in userspace. + +Code: Please use the Linux style of code formatting as documented + in Documentation/CodingStyle. If you have sections of code + that need to be in other formats, for example because they + are shared with a windows driver kit and you want to + maintain them just once separate them out nicely and note + this fact. + +Portability: Pointers are not always 32bits, not all computers are little + endian, people do not all have floating point and you + shouldn't use inline x86 assembler in your driver without + careful thought. Pure x86 drivers generally are not popular. + If you only have x86 hardware it is hard to test portability + but it is easy to make sure the code can easily be made + portable. + +Clarity: It helps if anyone can see how to fix the driver. It helps + you because you get patches not bug reports. If you submit a + driver that intentionally obfuscates how the hardware works + it will go in the bitbucket. + +Control: In general if there is active maintainance of a driver by + the author then patches will be redirected to them unless + they are totally obvious and without need of checking. + If you want to be the contact and update point for the + driver it is a good idea to state this in the comments, + and include an entry in MAINTAINERS for your driver. + +What Criteria Do Not Determine Acceptance +----------------------------------------- + +Vendor: Being the hardware vendor and maintaining the driver is + often a good thing. If there is a stable working driver from + other people already in the tree don't expect 'we are the + vendor' to get your driver chosen. Ideally work with the + existing driver author to build a single perfect driver. + +Author: It doesn't matter if a large Linux company wrote the driver, + or you did. Nobody has any special access to the kernel + tree. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't telling the + whole story. + + +Resources +--------- + +Linux kernel master tree: + ftp.??.kernel.org:/pub/linux/kernel/... + ?? == your country code, such as "us", "uk", "fr", etc. + +Linux kernel mailing list: + linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org + [mail majordomo@vger.kernel.org to subscribe] + +Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition (covers 2.6.10): + http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ (free version) + +Kernel traffic: + Weekly summary of kernel list activity (much easier to read) + http://www.kerneltraffic.org/kernel-traffic/ + +LWN.net: + Weekly summary of kernel development activity - http://lwn.net/ + 2.6 API changes: + http://lwn.net/Articles/2.6-kernel-api/ + Porting drivers from prior kernels to 2.6: + http://lwn.net/Articles/driver-porting/ + +KernelTrap: + Occasional Linux kernel articles and developer interviews + http://kerneltrap.org/ + +KernelNewbies: + Documentation and assistance for new kernel programmers + http://kernelnewbies.org/ + +Linux USB project: + http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-usb/ + |