From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from smtp.kernel.org (aws-us-west-2-korg-mail-alma10-1.taild15c8.ts.net [100.103.45.18]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8E37B43E4A2 for ; Thu, 8 Oct 2026 12:51:36 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1791463898; cv=none; b=ZIUJacxBDxxlHgS6fS+JhpQ6LNHkb+s7/aJjYtUqATJFiig8FY4g7RvoF2HFBrF/xf6lmZSB3nIFItYsDD3rnWHyp7MTO4D0iAkyZQZlxHbT/nujxj3jM4jpy5aKh1Pg7N2VjyCUmUAB28/64lpd4FW5KkNCH4wBZ93sVtZniXQ= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1791463898; c=relaxed/simple; bh=3RtU1bqEBo8yscKERbSQ5DwgP6BRhn6hRQmtj2q5A/0=; h=From:Date:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Message-Id:To:Cc; b=t5q4j/kV7dYMN24EpNz7yjEjd41ATsI1BnjpftVCsb04l41+Uwj8YdxaWcGJS+If4TsAvPefyaKC6znA6UYyWLT1wheMi1aCZzTXRiSaTgukzlArLu1Isvcyh/X4yyvpRQY66e5P5Kh0dVopTMYivaF6mCjii4PXE8/76+8gk0A= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (1024-bit key) header.d=linuxfoundation.org header.i=@linuxfoundation.org header.b=HatkTD55; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (1024-bit key) header.d=linuxfoundation.org header.i=@linuxfoundation.org header.b="HatkTD55" Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 3ED691F000FF; Thu, 8 Oct 2026 12:51:35 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=linuxfoundation.org; s=korg; t=1791463896; bh=um9rtr/l7vEM8Z+qsUwa1XxX194caaO3sS1Kms+aTfQ=; h=From:Date:Subject:To:Cc; b=HatkTD55Y9KKXit0Dw/5Ap4xVIWqmyxp6Xwz3PQQlRB0sb1aaXN2QebEr82Ccquow GsrsVIPxI2MA8I1u70rUpp903NnzskXl8WlFh7CIePVWpxo3yUZMaMGS6lygXginLv S1RKCEWaYDSKq/bQe7KfXo6Iu6CXz2l0IZSMTHSo= From: Konstantin Ryabitsev Date: Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:51:19 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] get_maintainer: only use THE REST as a fallback Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <20261008-get-maintainer-the-rest-fallback-v1-1-7d26d0b7aa34@linuxfoundation.org> X-B4-Tracking: v=1; b=H4sIAAAAAAAC/yXNwQ6CMBCE4Vche3aTQqBpfBXjYSkDrGI1bTUmh He34GEO3+WflRKiItG5Winio0mfoaA+VeRnCRNYh2JqTGNrYxxPyPwQDbkMkfMMjkiZR1mWXvy dre06OLGtG1oqmVfEqN/j4nL9O737G3zeu7RtPxCewA2EAAAA X-Change-ID: 20261008-get-maintainer-the-rest-fallback-6655e8a648d4 To: Joe Perches Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, users@kernel.org, Konstantin Ryabitsev X-Mailer: b4 0.17-dev-a72a9 X-Developer-Signature: v=1; a=openpgp-sha256; l=2901; i=konstantin@linuxfoundation.org; h=from:subject:message-id; bh=3RtU1bqEBo8yscKERbSQ5DwgP6BRhn6hRQmtj2q5A/0=; b=owGbwMvMwCW27YjM47CUmTmMp9WSGLKOT7yS9dYnryPwc8KUuLpI1hovhvlr94j/+VYVGdOcI NVlsnByRykLgxgXg6yYIkvZvthNQYUPPeTSe0xh5rAygQxh4OIUgIncvsLwV/pVcWzBVWejxMSv WxqlRTbeUpAxU8v/JuYxt9Js3TofQUaG+2e9uCVSa88XHvwv7nrSa7LdhjWcU50KBfNjens5FVx ZAA== X-Developer-Key: i=konstantin@linuxfoundation.org; a=openpgp; fpr=DE0E66E32F1FDD0902666B96E63EDCA9329DD07E THE REST matches every file in the tree via "F: *" and "F: */", so get_maintainer.pl currently adds linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org to every patch, regardless of whether the touched files already belong to a subsystem with its own mailing list. Only add THE REST for a file when no other matching section provides a mailing list for it. Files that match no section, or only sections without an L: entry, still fall back to THE REST, so every patch keeps reaching at least one public list. Signed-off-by: Konstantin Ryabitsev --- LKML has become mostly a firehose of patches that are already going to a subsystem list. The reason is THE REST: it matches every file in the tree, so get_maintainer.pl adds linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org to every single patch. During the week of Oct 1-7, 2026: - LKML carried 13,641 messages (~1,950/day), 90% of which were also sent to at least one other list; - with ~2,100 subscribers, that is about 29 million deliveries per week for LKML alone. This issue came up during the 2026 Maintainer Summit and the consensus was that "always include linux-kernel for every patch" was never the intent. This patch makes THE REST a fallback as initially intended: it is only added for a file when no other matching MAINTAINERS section provides a mailing list for it. --- scripts/get_maintainer.pl | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+) diff --git a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl index 16b80a700d4a..966595c3a6de 100755 --- a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl +++ b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl @@ -959,6 +959,14 @@ sub get_maintainers { $tvi = $end + 1; } + # THE REST matches every file, so only fall back to it when no + # other matching section provides a mailing list for this file. + my ($the_rest) = grep { get_section_name($_) eq "THE REST" } keys %hash; + if (defined($the_rest) && + grep { $_ != $the_rest && section_has_list($_) } keys %hash) { + delete $hash{$the_rest}; + } + foreach my $line (sort {$hash{$b} <=> $hash{$a}} keys %hash) { add_categories($line, ""); if ($sections) { @@ -1295,6 +1303,23 @@ sub find_ending_index { return $index; } +sub get_section_name { + my ($index) = @_; + + return $typevalue[find_starting_index($index)]; +} + +sub section_has_list { + my ($index) = @_; + + my $start = find_starting_index($index); + my $end = find_ending_index($index); + for (my $i = $start; $i < $end; $i++) { + return 1 if ($typevalue[$i] =~ m/^L:/); + } + return 0; +} + sub get_subsystem_name { my ($index) = @_; --- base-commit: a90ee4305c4a5df72c11b31dacfdc76e00fcf78a change-id: 20261008-get-maintainer-the-rest-fallback-6655e8a648d4 Best regards, -- Konstantin Ryabitsev