Re: [PATCH RFC] changes.rst: introduce 'Required for'-column
From: Randy Dunlap
Date: Thu Oct 22 2026 - 13:54:58 EST
On 10/22/26 2:36 AM, Manuel Ebner wrote:
> 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.
Some concise summary of:
bc is used to generate kernel time constants (depending on CONFIG_HZ) for all
architectures.
bc is used to build a static OID registry for fast lookups.
bc is used in package building.
bc is used in lots of testing:
* BPF
* ftrace
* math
* perf
* CPU
* networking
* kernel stack
* memory hotplug
* zram
>>> +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'.
Ack. Thanks.
--
~Randy