Linux kernel mirror (for testing) git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
kernel os linux

Merge tag 'for-linus-docs-2012-05-02' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/sarah/xhci

Pull ReportingBugs rewrite from Sarah Sharp:
"Here are the updates to ReportingBugs that were discussed and acked a
couple weeks ago. I've updated the fifth patch with your ack, as
requested"

* tag 'for-linus-docs-2012-05-02' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/sarah/xhci:
Docs: Move ref to Frohwalt Egerer to end of REPORTING-BUGS
Docs: Add a tips section to REPORTING-BUGS.
Docs: Expectations for bug reporters and maintainers
Docs: Add info on supported kernels to REPORTING-BUGS.
Docs: Add "Gather info" section to REPORTING-BUGS.
Docs: Step-by-step directions for reporting bugs.
Trivial: docs: Remove six-space indentation in REPORTING-BUGS.

+136 -30
+136 -30
REPORTING-BUGS
··· 1 - [Some of this is taken from Frohwalt Egerer's original linux-kernel FAQ] 1 + Background 2 + ========== 2 3 3 - What follows is a suggested procedure for reporting Linux bugs. You 4 - aren't obliged to use the bug reporting format, it is provided as a guide 5 - to the kind of information that can be useful to developers - no more. 4 + The upstream Linux kernel maintainers only fix bugs for specific kernel 5 + versions. Those versions include the current "release candidate" (or -rc) 6 + kernel, any "stable" kernel versions, and any "long term" kernels. 6 7 7 - If the failure includes an "OOPS:" type message in your log or on 8 - screen please read "Documentation/oops-tracing.txt" before posting your 8 + Please see https://www.kernel.org/ for a list of supported kernels. Any 9 + kernel marked with [EOL] is "end of life" and will not have any fixes 10 + backported to it. 11 + 12 + If you've found a bug on a kernel version isn't listed on kernel.org, 13 + contact your Linux distribution or embedded vendor for support. 14 + Alternatively, you can attempt to run one of the supported stable or -rc 15 + kernels, and see if you can reproduce the bug on that. It's preferable 16 + to reproduce the bug on the latest -rc kernel. 17 + 18 + 19 + How to report Linux kernel bugs 20 + =============================== 21 + 22 + 23 + Identify the problematic subsystem 24 + ---------------------------------- 25 + 26 + Identifying which part of the Linux kernel might be causing your issue 27 + increases your chances of getting your bug fixed. Simply posting to the 28 + generic linux-kernel mailing list (LKML) may cause your bug report to be 29 + lost in the noise of a mailing list that gets 1000+ emails a day. 30 + 31 + Instead, try to figure out which kernel subsystem is causing the issue, 32 + and email that subsystem's maintainer and mailing list. If the subsystem 33 + maintainer doesn't answer, then expand your scope to mailing lists like 34 + LKML. 35 + 36 + 37 + Identify who to notify 38 + ---------------------- 39 + 40 + Once you know the subsystem that is causing the issue, you should send a 41 + bug report. Some maintainers prefer bugs to be reported via bugzilla 42 + (https://bugzilla.kernel.org), while others prefer that bugs be reported 43 + via the subsystem mailing list. 44 + 45 + To find out where to send an emailed bug report, find your subsystem or 46 + device driver in the MAINTAINERS file. Search in the file for relevant 47 + entries, and send your bug report to the person(s) listed in the "M:" 48 + lines, making sure to Cc the mailing list(s) in the "L:" lines. When the 49 + maintainer replies to you, make sure to 'Reply-all' in order to keep the 50 + public mailing list(s) in the email thread. 51 + 52 + If you know which driver is causing issues, you can pass one of the driver 53 + files to the get_maintainer.pl script: 54 + perl scripts/get_maintainer.pl -f <filename> 55 + 56 + If it is a security bug, please copy the Security Contact listed in the 57 + MAINTAINERS file. They can help coordinate bugfix and disclosure. See 58 + Documentation/SecurityBugs for more information. 59 + 60 + If you can't figure out which subsystem caused the issue, you should file 61 + a bug in kernel.org bugzilla and send email to 62 + linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, referencing the bugzilla URL. (For more 63 + information on the linux-kernel mailing list see 64 + http://www.tux.org/lkml/). 65 + 66 + 67 + Tips for reporting bugs 68 + ----------------------- 69 + 70 + If you haven't reported a bug before, please read: 71 + 72 + http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html 73 + http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html 74 + 75 + It's REALLY important to report bugs that seem unrelated as separate email 76 + threads or separate bugzilla entries. If you report several unrelated 77 + bugs at once, it's difficult for maintainers to tease apart the relevant 78 + data. 79 + 80 + 81 + Gather information 82 + ------------------ 83 + 84 + The most important information in a bug report is how to reproduce the 85 + bug. This includes system information, and (most importantly) 86 + step-by-step instructions for how a user can trigger the bug. 87 + 88 + If the failure includes an "OOPS:", take a picture of the screen, capture 89 + a netconsole trace, or type the message from your screen into the bug 90 + report. Please read "Documentation/oops-tracing.txt" before posting your 9 91 bug report. This explains what you should do with the "Oops" information 10 92 to make it useful to the recipient. 11 93 12 - Send the output to the maintainer of the kernel area that seems to 13 - be involved with the problem, and cc the relevant mailing list. Don't 14 - worry too much about getting the wrong person. If you are unsure send it 15 - to the person responsible for the code relevant to what you were doing. 16 - If it occurs repeatably try and describe how to recreate it. That is 17 - worth even more than the oops itself. The list of maintainers and 18 - mailing lists is in the MAINTAINERS file in this directory. If you 19 - know the file name that causes the problem you can use the following 20 - command in this directory to find some of the maintainers of that file: 21 - perl scripts/get_maintainer.pl -f <filename> 22 - 23 - If it is a security bug, please copy the Security Contact listed 24 - in the MAINTAINERS file. They can help coordinate bugfix and disclosure. 25 - See Documentation/SecurityBugs for more information. 26 - 27 - If you are totally stumped as to whom to send the report, send it to 28 - linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org. (For more information on the linux-kernel 29 - mailing list see http://www.tux.org/lkml/). 30 - 31 - This is a suggested format for a bug report sent to the Linux kernel mailing 32 - list. Having a standardized bug report form makes it easier for you not to 94 + This is a suggested format for a bug report sent via email or bugzilla. 95 + Having a standardized bug report form makes it easier for you not to 33 96 overlook things, and easier for the developers to find the pieces of 34 - information they're really interested in. Don't feel you have to follow it. 97 + information they're really interested in. If some information is not 98 + relevant to your bug, feel free to exclude it. 35 99 36 - First run the ver_linux script included as scripts/ver_linux, which 100 + First run the ver_linux script included as scripts/ver_linux, which 37 101 reports the version of some important subsystems. Run this script with 38 102 the command "sh scripts/ver_linux". 39 103 ··· 129 65 [X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds: 130 66 131 67 132 - Thank you 68 + Follow up 69 + ========= 70 + 71 + Expectations for bug reporters 72 + ------------------------------ 73 + 74 + Linux kernel maintainers expect bug reporters to be able to follow up on 75 + bug reports. That may include running new tests, applying patches, 76 + recompiling your kernel, and/or re-triggering your bug. The most 77 + frustrating thing for maintainers is for someone to report a bug, and then 78 + never follow up on a request to try out a fix. 79 + 80 + That said, it's still useful for a kernel maintainer to know a bug exists 81 + on a supported kernel, even if you can't follow up with retests. Follow 82 + up reports, such as replying to the email thread with "I tried the latest 83 + kernel and I can't reproduce my bug anymore" are also helpful, because 84 + maintainers have to assume silence means things are still broken. 85 + 86 + Expectations for kernel maintainers 87 + ----------------------------------- 88 + 89 + Linux kernel maintainers are busy, overworked human beings. Some times 90 + they may not be able to address your bug in a day, a week, or two weeks. 91 + If they don't answer your email, they may be on vacation, or at a Linux 92 + conference. Check the conference schedule at LWN.net for more info: 93 + https://lwn.net/Calendar/ 94 + 95 + In general, kernel maintainers take 1 to 5 business days to respond to 96 + bugs. The majority of kernel maintainers are employed to work on the 97 + kernel, and they may not work on the weekends. Maintainers are scattered 98 + around the world, and they may not work in your time zone. Unless you 99 + have a high priority bug, please wait at least a week after the first bug 100 + report before sending the maintainer a reminder email. 101 + 102 + The exceptions to this rule are regressions, kernel crashes, security holes, 103 + or userspace breakage caused by new kernel behavior. Those bugs should be 104 + addressed by the maintainers ASAP. If you suspect a maintainer is not 105 + responding to these types of bugs in a timely manner (especially during a 106 + merge window), escalate the bug to LKML and Linus Torvalds. 107 + 108 + Thank you! 109 + 110 + [Some of this is taken from Frohwalt Egerer's original linux-kernel FAQ]