1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
5 ==============================
6 The Linux Kernel documentation
7 ==============================
9 This is the top level of the kernel's documentation tree. Kernel
10 documentation, like the kernel itself, is very much a work in progress;
11 that is especially true as we work to integrate our many scattered
12 documents into a coherent whole. Please note that improvements to the
13 documentation are welcome; join the linux-doc list at vger.kernel.org if
16 Working with the development community
17 ======================================
19 The essential guides for interacting with the kernel's development
20 community and getting your work upstream.
25 Development process <process/development-process>
26 Submitting patches <process/submitting-patches>
27 Code of conduct <process/code-of-conduct>
28 Maintainer handbook <maintainer/index>
29 All development-process docs <process/index>
35 Manuals for use by developers working to interface with the rest of the
41 Core API <core-api/index>
42 Driver APIs <driver-api/index>
43 Subsystems <subsystem-apis>
44 Locking <locking/index>
46 Development tools and processes
47 ===============================
49 Various other manuals with useful information for all kernel developers.
54 Licensing rules <process/license-rules>
55 Writing documentation <doc-guide/index>
56 Development tools <dev-tools/index>
57 Testing guide <dev-tools/testing-overview>
58 Hacking guide <kernel-hacking/index>
60 Fault injection <fault-injection/index>
61 Livepatching <livepatch/index>
65 User-oriented documentation
66 ===========================
68 The following manuals are written for *users* of the kernel — those who are
69 trying to get it to work optimally on a given system and application
70 developers seeking information on the kernel's user-space APIs.
75 Administration <admin-guide/index>
76 Build system <kbuild/index>
77 Reporting issues <admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst>
78 Userspace tools <tools/index>
79 Userspace API <userspace-api/index>
81 See also: the `Linux man pages <https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/>`_,
82 which are kept separately from the kernel's own documentation.
84 Firmware-related documentation
85 ==============================
86 The following holds information on the kernel's expectations regarding the
92 Firmware <firmware-guide/index>
93 Firmware and Devicetree <devicetree/index>
96 Architecture-specific documentation
97 ===================================
102 CPU architectures <arch/index>
108 There are several unsorted documents that don't seem to fit on other parts
109 of the documentation body, or may require some adjustments and/or conversion
110 to reStructuredText format, or are simply too old.
115 Unsorted documentation <staging/index>
124 Translations <translations/index>