I thought it would be easier to do a round of stable kernel releases in the middle of the larger kernel merge window, to prevent the next round from being so big (given that there are a lot of patches usually applying during the -rc1 merge window cycle). So, I've...

As 3.2 is now out, here's a note as to the current status of the different stable/longterm kernel trees. First off, please everyone remember to mark any patch that you want to have applied to the stable kernel trees with a simple: Cc: stable < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it > marking in the Signed-off-by: area. Once the patch hits Linus's tree, I will automatically be notified of it and it will be applied if possible. If it does not applied, you will be notified of that. Note that the address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , not the older address that used to be used before October of 2011.

tl;dr; -stable kernel releases stay the same this proposal is how we pick the -longterm releases -longterm kernels will be picked every year, and maintained for 2 years before being dropped. the same Documentation/stablekernelrules.txt will apply for -longterm kernels, as before. History: 2.6.16 became a "longterm" kernel because my day job (at SUSE) picked the 2.6.16 kernel for its "enterprise" release and it made things a lot easier for me to keep working at applying bugfixes and other stable patches to it to make my job simpler (applying a known-good bunch of patches in one stable update was easier than a set of smaller patches that were only tested by a smaller group of people.) Seeing that this worked well, a cabal of developers got together at a few different Linux conferences and determined that based on their future distro release cycles, we could all aim for standardizing on the 2.6.32 kernel, saving us all time and energy in the long run. We turned around and planted the proper seeds within the different organizations and low-and-behold, project managers figured that this was their idea and sold it to the rest of the groups and made it happen. Right now all of the major "enterprise" and "stable" distro releases are based on the 2.6.32 kernel, making this trial a huge success. Last year, two different community members (Andi and Paul) asked me if they could maintain the 2.6.34 and 2.6.35 kernels as -longterm kernel releases as their companies needed...

Sixth in a long series of complaints... See part 1 and part 2 and part 3 and part 4 and part 5 for previous atrocities. There's nothing like waking up and receiving in your inbox, a few scant hours after the merge window has opened up again, a plea for why you haven't already reviewed...