On 11/21/22 2:58 PM, Jonathan Corbet wrote: > Carlos Bilbao <carlos.bilbao@xxxxxxx> writes: > >> This cover letter is also a call for anyone interested in adding new, more >> up to date references to kernel-docs.rst. The document has been abandoned >> for a while but its original goal is still important. > > FWIW, I made an attempt to update this document a few years back and > concluded that it was pretty much hopeless. What is there is > ancient...what do you replace it with? There is a vast amount of > content out there that will go obsolete just as quickly. > > I'm certainly not going to stand in the way of anybody who wants to > update and maintain this document, though; I'd love to be proven wrong > on its value. > I gather there's two issues with this document: 1. The resources listed become obsolete, or dangerously outdated. 2. It requires periodic updates. Relying on some maintainer to keep updates of new kernel material is a bad long-term strategy. so perhaps we could try the following... Regarding (1), old resources should be removed. We could set the retirement age of a resource to 3 years, except for foundational books or active websites. As maintainer, I would have to group old stuff once or twice per year, and send a patch to get them removed. We could use this patch set to perform a first purge. For (2), I think that a good way to make this document stay relevant is by making it appealing to content creators. So _they_ want to be added here, and ask us for it. For example, Lorenzo Stoakes (CCed) is writing a book on the Linux memory management subsystem. If Lorenzo reaches out to me when he is finished, I could add his work to this document, and also send a note informing subscribers of linux-docs about this new resource. I imagine that would be appealing to Lorenzo. So basically, if content creators reach out, they get free publicity and a spot in kernel-docs.rst. I imagine there's only a few publishers of books related to the Linux kernel, and that they might be interested. As maintainer I would still have to update the document. But the hope is that, with time, this document is better known and book writers reach out. I don't know if that would have any success. Worst-case scenario, we end up with an equally outdated list of resources in a few years. But maybe it's worth a try? Cheers, Carlos >> By the way, Jon, I read in kernel-docs.rst, regarding LWN.net: >> >> ":Description: The title says it all. There's a fixed kernel section >> summarizing developers' work, bug fixes, new features and versions >> produced during the week. Published every Thursday." >> >> but I don't think LWN.net is published every Thursday anymore. Let me know >> if you want a third patch updating this as well. > > Well, we do still put out an edition every Thursday, so it's not > entirely wrong... > > Thanks, > > jon
