Re: [PATCH RFC] changes.rst: introduce 'Required for'-column
From: Manuel Ebner
Date: Thu Oct 22 2026 - 05:39:01 EST
Hi Randy,
On Wed, 2026-10-21 at 22:41 -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On 10/7/26 9:37 AM, Manuel Ebner wrote:
> > 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 <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@xxxxxxxxx>
> > CC: Nicolas Schier <n.schier@xxxxxxxxx>
> > ---
> > 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@xxxxxxxxxxx/
> >
> > [v1]
> > https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260812122426.1636227-2-manuelebnerli@xxxxxxxxxxx/
> > ---
> > 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
> >
> >
> > ...
> >
> >
> > +============== ======== ======================= ========================================
> > + Program Minimal Command to check Required for
> > + version the version
> > +============== ======== ======================= ========================================
> > +bash 4.2 bash --version general requirement
> > +bc 1.06.95 bc --version Kbuild (
>
> Something missing after the '('?
There's something missing because I didn't know what to put there. I know bc is calculating
something during the build, but now how to put it.
> > +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
> > +============== ======== ======================= ========================================
>
> On my build of 'make htmldocs', the table ending confuses docutils.
> Did you build this with 'make htmldocs'?
>
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:73: WARNING: Blank line required after table. [docutils]
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:75: WARNING: Block quote ends without a blank line; unexpected unindent. [docutils]
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:419: ERROR: Malformed table.
> Bottom border or header rule does not match top border.
>
> ============== ======== ======================= ========================================
I'll remove the bottom 'head-row'.
>
> ...
Thanks
Manuel