From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mout-p-103.mailbox.org (mout-p-103.mailbox.org [80.241.56.161]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id B874839E6FD; Wed, 7 Oct 2026 16:38:20 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=80.241.56.161 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1791391103; cv=none; b=ZVczPKHW5bsnlK+dbkjxlfTbddkijAtRrWOvqag5uu1qLPaNuGExY1vrva7QrNf+6CULEOpWPXjAXQ4IrNeiW+DqLJ5HFU0zPGUDz+LKvbEXBSTVC0qnd745//u4E7BxGEH3yqJvGg+d1AlQ7kgzNXIcuu2yI9EqaoIcQgcwVKw= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1791391103; c=relaxed/simple; bh=rt+DI0Zaj7t1gLzFkXpDITiac40k4MGIO8meOBYmFCU=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:Date:Message-ID:MIME-Version; b=FkP7yUos9Fhl6rmiMQMHaAu9wUfnZqHJuKYFkZUbOE2liiYghr9Wki0SIwx0jqQCJFUMwdjivS8uOzCMQGm7q4ct/XmJKkZftYRB4hkqPNMY3Kn4rMmsJu2PEEz0LjY1iqBBgUfDrEiLkCTT2xUNL1U5GUcLUyvm/e0ji6o3DGo= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=reject dis=none) header.from=mailbox.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=mailbox.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=mailbox.org header.i=@mailbox.org header.b=UkFfAXte; arc=none smtp.client-ip=80.241.56.161 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=reject dis=none) header.from=mailbox.org Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=mailbox.org Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=mailbox.org header.i=@mailbox.org header.b="UkFfAXte" Received: from smtp2.mailbox.org (smtp2.mailbox.org [IPv6:2001:67c:2050:b231:465::2]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519MLKEM768 server-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by mout-p-103.mailbox.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4j0Jhn135gzKnYC; Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:38:17 +0200 (CEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=mailbox.org; s=mail20150812; t=1791391097; h=from:from:reply-to:subject:subject:date:date:message-id:message-id: to:to:cc:cc:mime-version:mime-version: content-transfer-encoding:content-transfer-encoding; bh=2Ezflyex2QCq4IDhV46iLXvD5SXyLtu7Un9mXAhjKQE=; b=UkFfAXtexXMe4siEWkyoHJ7MLt9nnrmneb00G00NlXzSKyG2mdf+UNnktckKGk2nPnUkki ueDkpfo5Yq1KIJJq7XvES43wbpRTJOFu57yqBFD4LUn3Uofvxo/kEj3P07j9/axs+NKdwv CxUfTARcVHCHVOMSj7gnaFOEWz+UOxUlgM0ZTBjbV59KzB1vG1UVFJkvjVf8FIte5lgjYd jRVVoTd2irs6lA9k09ObJEmN8vp9J5joXIGZmHwK8MG3tuzF2dzXF0tnpXF37HRDV2SWZ2 KqH91ITWRUWJvrK0lSp9YBxYVeHbhsx5vUzZzElveAvuHNYEMjjg/0dVg7AsDQ== From: Manuel Ebner To: Jonathan Corbet , Shuah Khan , Randy Dunlap , linux-kbuild@vger.kernel.org, oe-kbuild-all@lists.linux.dev, linux-debuggers@vger.kernel.org, tools@linux.kernel.org, workflows@vger.kernel.org (open list:DOCUMENTATION PROCESS), linux-doc@vger.kernel.org (open list:DOCUMENTATION), linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org (open list) Cc: Manuel Ebner , Miguel Ojeda , Nicolas Schier Subject: [PATCH RFC] changes.rst: introduce 'Required for'-column Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2026 18:37:37 +0200 Message-ID: <20261007163736.3942745-2-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org> Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-debuggers@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MBO-RS-ID: dddea4e6f5fbbada107 X-MBO-RS-META: rx4z7z4tgdgubcmsyy11wmkig53ae4fe The optional tag isn't obvious nor defined. Therefore remove the tag and add column 'Required for' to make it easier to define the need for the tools. CC: Miguel Ojeda CC: Nicolas Schier --- If anybody has info to add to or refine the new column I would appreciate it a lot. Please forward this to list or people which can contribute to this patch. There's also the option to remove the 'Command to check the version'-column and refer to scripts/ver_linux - and with this also removing the duplicated information-issue. [v3] Rearange column space of the table in order to add column instead of replacing column add some requirements to the table [v2] Ditch footnotes in favor of a column Replace 'Check Version Command'-column with optional-column https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260831152523.638881-1-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org/ [v1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260812122426.1636227-2-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org/ --- Documentation/process/changes.rst | 97 ++++++++++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/process/changes.rst b/Documentation/process/changes.rst index 28f2ca633..dafe0530f 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/changes.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/changes.rst @@ -1,13 +1,14 @@ .. _changes: -Minimal requirements to compile the Kernel -++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Minimal requirements to interact with the Kernel +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Intro ===== -This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of -software necessary to run the current kernel version. +This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum versions of +software necessary to change code, compile, install and boot the current +kernel version. This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels and therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch, @@ -27,48 +28,52 @@ running a Linux kernel. Also, not all tools are necessary on all systems; obviously, if you don't have any PC Card hardware, for example, you probably do not need to concern yourself with pcmciautils. -====================== =============== ======================================== - Program Minimal version Command to check the version -====================== =============== ======================================== -bash 4.2 bash --version -bc 1.06.95 bc --version -bindgen (optional) 0.71.1 bindgen --version -binutils 2.30 ld -v -bison 2.0 bison --version -btrfs-progs 0.18 btrfs --version -Clang/LLVM (optional) 17.0.1 clang --version -e2fsprogs 1.41.4 e2fsck -V -flex 2.5.35 flex --version -gdb 7.2 gdb --version -GNU awk (optional) 5.1.0 gawk --version -GNU C 8.1 gcc --version -GNU make 4.0 make --version -GNU tar 1.28 tar --version -GRUB 0.93 grub --version || grub-install --version -gtags (optional) 6.6.5 gtags --version -iptables 1.4.2 iptables -V -jfsutils 1.1.3 fsck.jfs -V -kmod 13 kmod -V -mcelog 0.6 mcelog --version -mkimage (optional) 2017.01 mkimage --version -nfs-utils 1.0.5 showmount --version -openssl & libcrypto 1.0.0 openssl version -pahole 1.26 pahole --version -pcmciautils 004 pccardctl -V -pigz (optional) 2.4 pigz --version -PPP 2.4.0 pppd --version -procps 3.2.0 ps --version -Python 3.9.x python3 --version -quota-tools 3.09 quota -V -Rust (optional) 1.85.0 rustc --version -Sphinx\ [#f1]_ 3.4.3 sphinx-build --version -squashfs-tools 4.0 mksquashfs -version -udev 081 udevadm --version -util-linux 2.10o mount --version -xfsprogs 2.6.0 xfs_db -V -====================== =============== ======================================== - -.. [#f1] Sphinx is needed only to build the Kernel documentation +============== ======== ======================= ======================================== + Program Minimal Command to check Required for + version the version +============== ======== ======================= ======================================== +bash 4.2 bash --version general requirement +bc 1.06.95 bc --version Kbuild ( +bindgen 0.71.1 bindgen --version CONFIG_RUST=y +binutils 2.30 ld -v +bison 2.0 bison --version Kbuild (.config) +btrfs-progs 0.18 btrfs --version +Clang/LLVM 17.0.1 clang --version alternative to GNU C (gcc) +e2fsprogs 1.41.4 e2fsck -V ext4 +flex 2.5.35 flex --version Kbuild (.config) +gdb 7.2 gdb --version Debugging +GNU awk 5.1.0 gawk --version objtool, CONFIG_SYSTEM_BLACKLIST_HASH_LIST=y +GNU C 8.1 gcc --version alternative to Clang/LLVM (clang) +GNU make 4.0 make --version +GNU tar 1.28 tar --version +GRUB 0.93 grub --version || + grub-install --version +gtags 6.6.5 gtags --version to generate tag files through ``make gtags`` +iptables 1.4.2 iptables -V +jfsutils 1.1.3 fsck.jfs -V +kmod 13 kmod -V +mcelog 0.6 mcelog --version +mkimage 2017.01 mkimage --version Flat Image Tree (FIT) or ARCH=arc, arm or powerpc +nfs-utils 1.0.5 showmount --version +openssl 1.0.0 openssl version +pahole 1.26 pahole --version +pcmciautils 004 pccardctl -V +pigz 2.4 pigz --version Compile and boot with KPGZIP=y +PPP 2.4.0 pppd --version +procps 3.2.0 ps --version +Python 3.9.x python3 --version +quota-tools 3.09 quota -V +Rust 1.85.0 rustc --version CONFIG_RUST=y +Sphinx 3.4.3 sphinx-build --version build kernel documentation +squashfs-tools 4.0 mksquashfs -version +udev 081 udevadm --version +util-linux 2.10o mount --version +xfsprogs 2.6.0 xfs_db -V +============== ======== ======================= ======================================== + Program Minimal Command to check Required for + version check the version +============== ======== ======================= ======================================== + Kernel compilation ****************** -- 2.55.0