Re: [PATCH RFC] changes.rst: introduce 'Required for'-column

[Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>]

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@gmail.com>
>>> CC: Nicolas Schier <n.schier@fritz.com>
>>> ---
>>> 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@mailbox.org/
>>>
>>> [v1]
>>>  https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260812122426.1636227-2-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org/
>>> ---
>>>  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