Re: [PATCH] README: make the README agnostic to version numbers

[Yaowei Bai]

On Mon, Mar 09, 2015 at 11:34:50AM -0500, Josh Poimboeuf wrote:
> Personally I don't think the "4.x" numbers add anything to the
> understanding of the document.

Maybe the reason you think so is that you are quite familiar with the kernel,
but we should also take care of the ones who are not familiar with it. For 
example,
usually, README is the first file for these people to read, with version 
numbers in README,
then one will acquire which era the kenrel is currently in.

> And anyway, Linus doesn't update them to
> 4.0, 4.1, etc per release, so it's not a real release file.
> 

Even so, i still believe that's helpful with version number references in 
README.

> 
> True, changing this file every 4 years or so isn't a big deal.  But
> Linux doesn't do _big_ changes any more, so whether its "3.x", "4.x", or
> "x.y", the use cases and release notes are the same.

Well, personally, i really don't think so.

--
Yaowei

> 
> -- 
> Josh

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Re: [PATCH] README: make the README agnostic to version numbers

[Josh Poimboeuf]

On Mon, Mar 09, 2015 at 11:39:02PM +0800, Yaowei Bai wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 06, 2015 at 09:59:38AM -0600, Josh Poimboeuf wrote:
> > On Tue, Mar 03, 2015 at 10:08:02PM +0800, Yaowei Bai wrote:
> > > As we have moved to 4.x, it should be reflected in README.
> > > 
> > > Signed-off-by: Yaowei Bai 
> > > ---
> > >  README | 34 +-
> > >  1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
> > 
> > Remove all references to Linux version numbers (except for the examples)
> > in the README so we won't have to update it again for Linux 5.0.
> 
> It sounds great, but i think that would be more easily comprehensible with 
> version
> numbers in README, especially for the ones who are not familiar with Linux 
> kernel
> very much. Meanwhile, does it make sense for a software without version number
> in release file?

Personally I don't think the "4.x" numbers add anything to the
understanding of the document.  And anyway, Linus doesn't update them to
4.0, 4.1, etc per release, so it's not a real release file.

> On the other hand, it only need *one* patch to update the version
> numbers in README every several years, i.e. about 8 years and 4 years
> for 3.x and 4.x, respectively.

True, changing this file every 4 years or so isn't a big deal.  But
Linux doesn't do _big_ changes any more, so whether its "3.x", "4.x", or
"x.y", the use cases and release notes are the same.

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Josh
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Re: [PATCH] README: make the README agnostic to version numbers

[Yaowei Bai]

On Fri, Mar 06, 2015 at 09:59:38AM -0600, Josh Poimboeuf wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 03, 2015 at 10:08:02PM +0800, Yaowei Bai wrote:
> > As we have moved to 4.x, it should be reflected in README.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Yaowei Bai 
> > ---
> >  README | 34 +-
> >  1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
> 
> Remove all references to Linux version numbers (except for the examples)
> in the README so we won't have to update it again for Linux 5.0.

It sounds great, but i think that would be more easily comprehensible with 
version
numbers in README, especially for the ones who are not familiar with Linux 
kernel
very much. Meanwhile, does it make sense for a software without version number
in release file? On the other hand, it only need *one* patch to update the 
version
numbers in README every several years, i.e. about 8 years and 4 years for 3.x 
and
4.x, respectively.

Bai  

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[PATCH] README: make the README agnostic to version numbers

[Josh Poimboeuf]

On Tue, Mar 03, 2015 at 10:08:02PM +0800, Yaowei Bai wrote:
> As we have moved to 4.x, it should be reflected in README.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Yaowei Bai 
> ---
>  README | 34 +-
>  1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

How about this more version-agnostic version?

--->8---

Subject: [PATCH] README: make the README version number agnostic

Remove all references to Linux version numbers (except for the examples)
in the README so we won't have to update it again for Linux 5.0.

Signed-off-by: Josh Poimboeuf 
---
 README | 38 +++---
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README b/README
index a24ec89..5690938 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-Linux kernel release 3.x 
+Linux kernel release 
 
-These are the release notes for Linux version 3.  Read them carefully,
+These are the release notes for Linux.  Read them carefully,
 as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
 kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong. 
 
@@ -62,43 +62,43 @@ INSTALLING the kernel source:
directory where you have permissions (eg. your home directory) and
unpack it:
 
- gzip -cd linux-3.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -
+ gzip -cd linux-X.Y.tar.gz | tar xvf -
 
or
 
- bzip2 -dc linux-3.X.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
+ bzip2 -dc linux-X.Y.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
 
-   Replace "X" with the version number of the latest kernel.
+   Replace "X.Y" with the version number of the latest kernel.
 
Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually
incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header
files.  They should match the library, and not get messed up by
whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be.
 
- - You can also upgrade between 3.x releases by patching.  Patches are
+ - You can also upgrade between kernel releases by patching.  Patches are
distributed in the traditional gzip and the newer bzip2 format.  To
install by patching, get all the newer patch files, enter the
-   top level directory of the kernel source (linux-3.X) and execute:
+   top level directory of the kernel source and execute:
 
- gzip -cd ../patch-3.x.gz | patch -p1
+ gzip -cd ../patch-x.y.gz | patch -p1
 
or
 
- bzip2 -dc ../patch-3.x.bz2 | patch -p1
+ bzip2 -dc ../patch-x.y.bz2 | patch -p1
 
-   Replace "x" for all versions bigger than the version "X" of your current
+   Replace "x.y" for all versions bigger than the version "X.Y" of your current
source tree, _in_order_, and you should be ok.  You may want to remove
the backup files (some-file-name~ or some-file-name.orig), and make sure
that there are no failed patches (some-file-name# or some-file-name.rej).
If there are, either you or I have made a mistake.
 
-   Unlike patches for the 3.x kernels, patches for the 3.x.y kernels
+   Unlike patches for the x.y kernels, patches for the x.y.z kernels
(also known as the -stable kernels) are not incremental but instead apply
-   directly to the base 3.x kernel.  For example, if your base kernel is 3.0
-   and you want to apply the 3.0.3 patch, you must not first apply the 3.0.1
-   and 3.0.2 patches. Similarly, if you are running kernel version 3.0.2 and
-   want to jump to 3.0.3, you must first reverse the 3.0.2 patch (that is,
-   patch -R) _before_ applying the 3.0.3 patch. You can read more on this in
+   directly to the base x.y kernel.  For example, if your base kernel is 4.0
+   and you want to apply the 4.0.3 patch, you must not first apply the 4.0.1
+   and 4.0.2 patches. Similarly, if you are running kernel version 4.0.2 and
+   want to jump to 4.0.3, you must first reverse the 4.0.2 patch (that is,
+   patch -R) _before_ applying the 4.0.3 patch. You can read more on this in
Documentation/applying-patches.txt
 
Alternatively, the script patch-kernel can be used to automate this
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ INSTALLING the kernel source:
 
 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
 
-   Compiling and running the 3.x kernels requires up-to-date
+   Compiling and running Linux kernels requires up-to-date
versions of various software packages.  Consult
Documentation/Changes for the minimum version numbers required
and how to get updates for these packages.  Beware that using
@@ -137,12 +137,12 @@ BUILD directory for the kernel:
place for the output files (including .config).
Example:
 
- kernel source code: /usr/src/linux-3.X
+ kernel source code: /usr/src/linux
  build directory:/home/name/build/kernel
 
To configure and build the kernel, use:
 
- cd /usr/src/linux-3.X
+ cd /usr/src/linux
  make O=/home/name/build/kernel menuconfig
  make O=/home/name/build/kernel
  sudo make O=/home/name/build/kernel modules_install install
-- 
2.1.0

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