Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1762197AbXJQCXK (ORCPT ); Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:23:10 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S935882AbXJQCWr (ORCPT ); Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:22:47 -0400 Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([140.186.70.10]:48568 "EHLO fencepost.gnu.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S935795AbXJQCWp (ORCPT ); Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:22:45 -0400 Subject: Distinguishing releases from pre-rc snapshots From: Pavel Roskin To: linux-kernel Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:22:43 -0400 Message-Id: <1192587763.3672.24.camel@dv> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.12.1 (2.12.1-2.fc8) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1714 Lines: 39 Hello! I'm trying to keep some external drivers up to date with the kernel, and the first two weeks after the release is the worst time for me. There is no way to distinguish the current git kernel from the latest release. It's only after rc1 is released that I can use preprocessor to check LINUX_VERSION_CODE. Before that, I have to rely on tricks or change the kernel version myself in a separate patch and tell other team members to do the same. Basically, I only care about kernel releases, but I also want to increase the probability that the next standalone release of my drivers will work with the next release on the kernel. That's why I check compatibility with the tip of the linux-2.6 repository. Calling git version of Linux "2.6.23" one day before 2.6.24-rc1 is preposterous, as it's likely to be compatible with 2.6.24, not 2.6.23. Calling git version of Linux "2.6.24-pre" or something next day after 2.6.23 release is OK in comparison, since nobody developing external drivers cares about old revisions of the kernel. And the developers of the kernel itself shouldn't care about versions at all. It would be nice to establish a rule to increment the version number immediately after the kernel release and have a suffix to indicate that it's a pre-rc version. "rc0" is my personal favorite. It would also be helpful for other repositories, as it would indicate whether any post-release changes have been merged in. -- Regards, Pavel Roskin - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/