How to find out which kernel release contains some code

How to find out which kernel release contains some code

[Alan Stern]

Randy:

Is there any simple easy way to find out in which kernel release a 
particular line of code first appeared?  Or to find out whether that line 
is or isn't present in a particular release?

The timestamps in BitKeeper don't help much.  They seem to reflect the 
first time the code was put into _any_ BitKeeper repository, not the time 
it was entered into Linus's tree.  The web interface to the linux-2.6 tree 
doesn't offer any way to view a particular source file as of a particular 
release tag.

I don't fancy downloading lots and lots of enormous patch files, searching
for one small entry.  Or lots of kernel source tarballs, for that matter.

There's got to be an easier way.  Do you know of one?

Alan Stern

Re: How to find out which kernel release contains some code

[Randy.Dunlap]

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:41:50 -0400 (EDT) Alan Stern wrote:

| Randy:
| 
| Is there any simple easy way to find out in which kernel release a 
| particular line of code first appeared?  Or to find out whether that line 
| is or isn't present in a particular release?

Hi Alan,

I usually try to use BK's web interface "Browse the source tree"
for this:
  http://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.5/src?nav=index.html

E.g., I can browse uhci-hcd.c, version 1.89, and see on what date
and who it thinks was responsible for a line of source code:
http://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.5/anno/drivers/usb/host/uhci-hcd.c%401.89?nav=index.html|src/.|src/drivers|src/drivers/usb|src/drivers/usb/host
But that won't say what kernel version it is (first) contained in.
Just a merge date.

| The timestamps in BitKeeper don't help much.  They seem to reflect the 
| first time the code was put into _any_ BitKeeper repository, not the time 
| it was entered into Linus's tree.

Yes, that bugs me too.

| The web interface to the linux-2.6 tree 
| doesn't offer any way to view a particular source file as of a particular 
| release tag.
| 
| I don't fancy downloading lots and lots of enormous patch files, searching
| for one small entry.  Or lots of kernel source tarballs, for that matter.
| 
| There's got to be an easier way.  Do you know of one?

Not really.  You could ask on the bk-users mailing list.  See here:
  http://www.bitkeeper.com/Support.Mailing.html

Or there may be features in the commercial version of BK that help
out with this more that the free version does.  I dunno.

--
~Randy