1Linux kernel 2============ 3 4The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware, 5system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software. 6 7Quick Start 8----------- 9 10* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst 11* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org 12* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst 13* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/ 14 15Essential Documentation 16----------------------- 17 18All users should be familiar with: 19 20* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst 21* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst 22* License: See COPYING 23 24Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at: 25https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ 26 27 28Who Are You? 29============ 30 31Find your role below: 32 33* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development 34* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture 35* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis 36* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels 37* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting 38* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches 39* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware 40* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros 41* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools 42 43 44For Specific Users 45================== 46 47New Kernel Developer 48-------------------- 49 50Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here: 51 52* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst 53* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst 54* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst 55* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst 56* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst 57* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst 58* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst 59 60Academic Researcher 61------------------- 62 63Explore the kernel's architecture and internals: 64 65* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst 66* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst 67* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst 68* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst 69* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst 70* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst 71* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst 72* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst 73 74Security Expert 75--------------- 76 77Security documentation and hardening guides: 78 79* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst 80* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst 81* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst 82* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst 83* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst 84* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst 85* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst 86 87Backport/Maintenance Engineer 88----------------------------- 89 90Maintain and stabilize kernel versions: 91 92* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst 93* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst 94* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst 95* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst 96* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst 97 98System Administrator 99-------------------- 100 101Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems: 102 103* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst 104* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst 105* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst 106* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst 107* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst 108* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst 109 110Maintainer 111---------- 112 113Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions: 114 115* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst 116* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst 117* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst 118* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst 119* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst 120* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst 121* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst 122 123Hardware Vendor 124--------------- 125 126Write drivers and support new hardware: 127 128* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst 129* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst 130* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst 131* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst 132* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/ 133* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst 134* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst 135 136Distribution Maintainer 137----------------------- 138 139Package and distribute the kernel: 140 141* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst 142* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README 143* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst 144* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst 145* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst 146* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst 147 148AI Coding Assistant 149------------------- 150 151CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and 152follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux 153kernel: 154 155* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst 156 157This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution, 158and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with. 159 160 161Communication and Support 162========================= 163 164* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/ 165* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net 166* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/ 167* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists 168* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst 169